The Neverending Game
by Shritistrang
Summary: A young boy purchases a new game in which a young hero has to face a dark force that is threatening his home world... but is it really just a video game? Inspired by and based on 'The Neverending Story'.
1. Prologue

A young, brown-haired boy hastily ran along the wet sidewalk, while all around him, the raindrops were falling. He seemed to be quite in a hurry.

The people around him decided to ignore him, even though children his age were supposeed to be in school at this time of the day. They also ignored his ruffled clothes, his dirty hair and the small graze on his forehead.

Carrying his school bag with him, the boy didn't stop until he reached a certain display window.

He frowned. The rooms behind this display window had always been empty, every time he came past here. Just yesterday he was coming past here, to buy new school books, but now a new shop was in there.

On the smooth glass surface, he could read the shop's name: 'SUPER SMASH SHOP'.

While that name certainly sounded a bit pompous, the young boy got ecstatic when he realized what it had for sale: VIDEO GAMES!

With a big grin on his face, he entered the shop. A bell that was attached to the door jingled as he entered.

A voice coming from the back of the store called: "Please shut the door, it's cold outside!"

The boy obeyed, and after that, took a look around. He instantly realized that all this shop had to offer were Video Games… and only games from his favorite company, Nintendo! He also could see ancient consoles that normal shops never had to offer anymore, such as the NES, and the SNES.

His eyes sparkled with excitement when he saw all of the old classic games on the shelves: Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Ice Climber, the original Metroid…

And at the end of the shelves, he saw all the newest games on the market for both the Gamecube and the Wii: Twilight Princess, Pikmin, Starfox Assault, F-Zero GX…

"Well, are you planning on just standing there, or do you want to buy something?" a calm voice pulled him out of his daydreams.

Surprised, he turned around and saw a middle-aged man standing there with a smile on his face.

The boy coughed. "Well, I… I was just looking around…"

The man made an inviting gesture. "Be my guest then! I know that boys your age have a soft spot for such games."

"Th-thank you," the boy muttered, relieved that the salesman wouldn't ask him why he wasn't in school.

But just as he was approaching a shelf of N64 games, the salesman spoke up again: "Say, it's pretty early in the morning… don't you have school today?"

The boy winced as he was asked that question and quickly answered: "N-no, not today! I am just, umm…"

The man laughed. "It's okay, boy, I understand! When I was your age, I took every chance not to go to school as well. And I'm certainly not your parent, so it's none of my business. And as long as you don't make it a habit… Say, what's your name?"

"Pit," the boy said. "My name's Pit!"

The man frowned. "Just Pit?"

"Just Pit!"

"That's a nice name!" the salesman smiled. "My name is Hando! Masuto Hando! I'm the owner of this little shop."

Pit just nodded and concentrated back on the games.

But just a few minutes later, Mr. Hando spoke to him once again: "I know it's none of my business, but… may I ask just WHY you didn't go to school today, Pit?"

Pit blushed. "Um, that's… I mean, I…"

Mr. Hando chuckled. "Fine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Uh, no, that's okay… it was because of the other boys."

"The other boys?"

Pit nodded. "Yes, they wouldn't leave me alone. They're… they're always bullying me, so I ran away from them."

"This morning?"

Pit nodded. "Yeah, although they do it every day. But today, I just couldn't stand it anymore, so I ran away."

"I see… and what do they do?"

"Well, they push me around and tell me I'm a weirdo and a nerd…"

"Why would they say such a thing?" Mr. Hando wondered.

Pit blushed even more. "They… they make fun of all the video games I'm buying…"

Mr. Hando nodded. "I see… so, you like video games, do you?"

Pit nodded. "Well, yeah… especially Nintendo games! They rule!" He gave the salesman a big grin.

Mr. Hando grinned back. "Well, in that case, I may just have the thing for you… it's a new game, fresh from the market! Well, officially, it's not even for sale yet, but I managed to acquire a copy from one of my distributors… And if you want, I can lend it to you, for a small fee…"

Pit's eyes sparkled with glee. "R-really? What kind of game?"

"It's a new, interactive game, a hybrid of an action-adventure, a platform game and an interactive storybook." He lowered his voice to a mysterious whisper. "They say that this game has no true ending, you can just keep on playing."

Pit gasped. A neverending game… that was what he had been dreaming of for his entire life!

Mr. Hando then smirked. "But I'm afraid you will only be able to play it until you bring it back to me. Let's see, it's Friday… what do you say you keep it over the weekend and bring it back to me on Monday?"

Pit nodded nervously. "H-how much?"

And after Mr. Hando told him a price that even he would be able to afford, Pit gave him the money, put the game into his school bag, bid farewell to the nice vendor and ran out of the store.

Mr. Hando looked after the boy as he ran through the rain. He chuckled. "My dear Pit, if my guess is correct, you will find yourself getting attached to that game very quickly…"

----

Right after Pit has come home, he took off his wet jacket and the dirty shoes and ran upstairs, into his room, where his Gamecube and Wii were standing in front of the television set his parents have given to him last Christmas.

As he knew that both of his parents would only come back at noon, he sat down in front of his Wii and took the new game out of his bag.

Before he took the small CD out of its case, he looked at the cover picture first.

All of his favorite Nintendo heroes were looking at him expectanty from the cover: Heroic Link, cute and pink Kirby, mysterious Samus Aran… and of course Mario, Nintendo's very own 'Mr. Video Game'!

He read the title: SUPER SMASH BROS. – THE NEVERENDING GAME.

He shuddered. This game would be the ultimate gaming experience, he could tell as much. His hand softly stroked the surface of the game package before he took out the CD and put it into his Wii.

He then pressed the console's On Switch, and after several seconds, the Title Screen appeared…

And the game was afoot!


	2. The Four Messengers

The night was dark, and all animals of Forever Forest were hiding in there dens, caves and other hiding places.

It was midnight, and as usual, a cold wind was blowing through the thicket.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the distance. It hovered a short distance over the floor and drove away the forest's darkness. It zoomed around the old trees, sometimes going left, sometimes going right, as if it didn't know where to go.

But the strangest thing was not the flying, gleaming star itself, but the pink-colored creature sitting on its top side. It was as round as a ball, had stubby arms and feet, and a cute face on the middle of its spherical body.

It was an inhabitant of faraway Dream Land, and his name was Kirby! And he was, indeed, lost.

He had left many miles behind with his trusty Warp Star. He had travelled a long distance just to reach a certain place… but now, he was worried that he would never reach that place.

"What shall I do?" he murmured in a squeaky voice. "If this forest wouldn't be so dark and gloomy… I wonder if I'm actually right here. I knew I should have taken the route along the coast…"

Just as he considered flying up to the treetops, to see if he could find any outstanding landmarks, he saw something else shining through the darkness of the woods… it was the light of a burning fire.

But it was no forest fire, it looked more like a campfire. Hope swelled up in Kirby's little body. If there was a fireplace, there had to be people there. And if there were people, they could show him the right way.

So he quickly steered his Warp Star towards the fire, until he reached a small clearing in the midddle of the woods. He stopped his star in mid-air and jumped down to the ground.

Sitting around the campfire, he could see three figures of different sizes. Of VERY different sizes.

There was a giant sitting on the ground, who looked like a massive piece of rock. Still, it was a living being, and he could see the enormous muscles of the creature, especially along his powerful arms.

This was a Goron, a member of the rock-eating people from Death Mountain. Death Mountain was even farther away from here than Dream Land, and Kirby wondered why this Goron had come here in the first place.

The next person was a cute-looking human girl with purple hair. She was wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt and white pants. She also wore a strange-looking, blue helmet.

Kirby couldn't quite say where the girl was coming from, as there were humans living all over this world. But he immediately recognized the animal that was sitting behind her, without any doubt her mount. It was a huge bird with metallic-looking skin and blade-like feathers. Kirby recognized it as a flying Pokémon, a so-called Skarmory. The girl must be its trainer. Kirby knew that in certain parts of the world, humans were training Pokémon to fight and do other jobs for them.

The last being in the round was so tiny that Kirby almost didn't see it at first. It was a very small figure, not bigger than a mouse, and it wore what looked like some sort of space suit, with a gleaming antenna on its round helmet. All he could see from the tiny man (he assumed it was male) were his pointed ears, his squinted eyes and his round nose.

Behind the tiny man in the space suit, he could see a big amount of strange creatures, as they were scurrying around a weird vehicle. It almost looked like a tiny spaceship, but it was clearly a mobile plant. Kirby then recognized the strange creatures as Pikmin, unusual life forms that were half animal, half plant. They were so tiny that most people didn't even know that they existed. They had small bodies that were either colored red, blue or yellow and had stems on their head, with either small leaves, buds or flower petals on the end. A few races used Pikmin to carry out various tasks for them, and the Pikmin are usually very cooperative, as they know that everyone who helped them could also protect them from the bigger, more dangerous creatures that are seeing them as their prey.

At first, Kirby hesitated, as he didn't know if these people were dangerous or not. But he could see that the girl was unarmed, and he also believed them to be messengers, such as he was himself, as there was no other reason why members of such different races would come all this way into these woods.

So he gathered up his courage, cleared his throat and stepped out onto the clearing.

The Goron was the first to notice him. "Quite a busy night we have," he said in his grumbly voice. "There's another one!"

The girl smiled. "Oh, and from the looks of it, he's from Dream Land. Is that right?"

"That's correct," Kirby said. "I've come a long way and I was afraid I might have lost my way… I'm looking for the Palace in the Sky!"

"Oh, the residence of our queen?" the tiny astronaut squeaked. "You must tell us more… please, have a seat!"

"Thank you!" Kirby said as he approached them. "Oh, and by the way: My name's Kirby!"

"Nice to meet you!" the small man nodded. "I am Olimar!"

The girl shook hands with Kirby. "You can call me Winona!"

"I am called Darbus," the Goron grumbled.

Kirby cleared his throat. "W-well, I have come all this way from Dream Land because something terrible happened in my home country…"

"What do you mean?" Olimar asked.

"You know, in Dream Land, we have a nice area with wide, open plains and beautiful woods… we call it the 'Green Greens'."

"I've heard of that place," Winona said. "A really beautiful piece of Earth!"

Kirby smiled dreamily. "Yes, isn't it?"

"Is that all?" Darbus asked. "What's so horrible that happened?"

"Well, one day, a strange veil of darkness started to spread across our lands… and with it, scary-looking, black monsters appeared! The darkness first appeared in Green Greens, but it started to spread across the land. Everyone who stepped into it became a restless spirit, not being able to leave the shadows. We tried to stop it somehow, but to no avail…" He shuddered. "Somehow, when I get close to that strange darkness, I have the feeling as if… SOMETHING… is watching every of my steps. And there's nothing we can do about it… So they sent me to the Palace in the Sky, so I could ask the Queen for help."

The other messengers looked at each other.

"That's the same thing that happened in my home country," Winona said in a quiet voice. "The darkness appeared and has trapped some of my best friends… turning them into restless spirits… I came here because I was hoping the Queen would know what's going on."

"We all have the same mission," Darbus growled. "And that means that the strange darkness doesn't just appear in one part of our world, but everywhere!"

"And that means… all of Nintendopia is in danger!" Olimar realized.

Kirby jumped to his feet. "B-but if that is true, then… then we have to time to waste! Let's go!"

"We didn't want to rest for very long," Olimar explained. "The darkness of Forever Forest just hindered us. But now that you joined us, dear Kirby, your bright star might light our way."

But Kirby shook his head. "No way! I can't wait for anyone who's travelling in a flying onion!"

"But it's a very special onion…" Olimar said in an offended tone of voice.

"Besides, I thought you didn't know the way…" Winona started.

"Who are you talking to?" Darbus grumbled, as Kirby had already left. He jumped on his Warp Star, and they could see him zooming through the trees, vanishing in the distance.

"Well, maybe that star of his wouldn't have been the best source of light…" Olimar murmured.

Winona stood up and mounted her Skarmory. "Well, maybe it's best if all of us travel by ourselves… my Skarmory doesn't like to wait for others either." And with a screech, her Skarmory flew up into the night sky.

Darbus put out the fire by stepping on it with his huge feet. "Fine with me," he grumbled in the darkness. "Then I don't have to watch out for little guys I might squash by accident…"

And Olimar could hear how he was rolling up into his rock form, and how he rolled away, sometimes noisily colliding with a tree or bush.

He sighed. "Oh well, let's see who will get there first…" He looked at his Pikmin. "Well, back into the onion, guys!"


	3. The Queen's Illness

Author's Notes: As I said in the story's description, this is based on the book 'The Neverending Story' by Michael Ende. I know the story is very similar to the original book, and I hope you'll still enjoy it, regardless if you have read the book or seen the movie.

That said, I hope you leave some comments so I know if you like it or not.

----

Several days later, Winona was the first one to arrive at the Palace in the Sky.

Or at least she believed herself to be the first one, as she knew that her Skarmory was one of the fastest flyers far and wide.

When the rays of the morning sun started to make the metallic hide of her Pokémon shine and glimmer, she could see the majestic peak of the holy mountain that was below the floating palace: The highest peak of Angel Land, Mt. Olympus!

Normally, anyone who arrived at the Palace in the Sky would have to travel up to the mountain's peak, where a floating platform would take the visitor up to the entrance hall. But as Winona was a flying delegate with an urgent message, she could also land on the landing platform that was reserved for all kinds of flying creatures.

When she dismounted, several stable boys came running to take care of her Skarmory. She left her exhausted Pokémon in their care and left the stables. Still, she was surprised at the huge amount of flying mounts that were placed in the stables at this time of the day. She could see several winged animals, other Pokémon and even a few strange creatures that looked very alien to her.

She decided to ignore it for now. She had an urgent message to deliver. But when she stepped out into the huge entrance hall of the palace, she was shocked to see that is was stuffed with people, all kinds of visitors from all over the world, and from the looks of it, all of them messengers as herself!

A light cough made her turn around. And her eyes bugged out when she saw none other than Olimar standing there, on a window sill, surrounded by a few of his Pikmin.

"Hello there!" the tiny astronaut smiled and waved. "I've been wondering when you or the others would finally arrive."

Winona blinked. "How… how did you do…"

Olimar shrugged with a smirk. "Well, as I said… that is a very special onion…"

The young Pokémon trainer shook her head. "Never mind… I have to speak to the Queen now!"

Olimar sighed. "Well, unfortunately… you are not the only one who is waiting for an audience with the Queen." And he gestured around them.

"Who ARE all those people?" Winona asked with awe.

"Those are all messengers as we are, from all parts of Nintendopia," Olimar said in a quiet voice. "I've talked to some of them… and they all are here because of the same reason: That horrible darkness that is spreading across our beloved world like a plague!"

"Oh my god…" Winona muttered. She was shocked. "And… and the Queen?"

"Our dear Queen," Olimar sighed. "Is seriously ill. The best doctors of Nintendopia are examining her, but as yet, they couldn't find a cure. Nobody has ever heard of her sickness, but it is rumored that it has to do with the… unfortunate events that are threatening our world."

"That's… that's horrible…" Winona muttered.

"Yes," Olimar nodded. "Yes, it is."

As for now, Winona abstained from talking to the Queen, under the given circumstances…

A few days later, Kirby arrived at the Palace in the Sky as well. After getting lost again, he had to take a huge detour until he finally managed to find the right way to the palace again.

And another week after wards, Darbus arrived. He wasn't allowed to enter the palace earlier, because he had started to take several bites from the sacred mountain. But after the palace guards considered that he hadn't eaten anything since he left his home mountain, they finally let him pass.

The four messengers became even bigger friends during the long time they had to wait, and afterwards, they didn't return back to their respective home countries right away. They travelled together and had many adventures.

But that's a different story!

----

Pit put down the controller and took a deep breath. The game's story was so captivating that he never thought of pausing it or looking at the watch once.

After looking at his clock, he realized that he still had some time before his parents would come back, so he concentrated back on the game.

Listening to the story itself was much more fascinating than clearing all the levels with Kirby and his new companions.

He couldn't wait to see how the story would continue…

----

More than twenty doctors were assembled in the huge parlor that was in front of the Queen's personal chambers. They were all murmuring to themselves while the Queen's personal physician was doing his job behind the doors. Just like with the messengers waiting in the huge entrance hall, the assembled doctors were residents of all parts of Nintendopia.

It might be surprising for everyone who wasn't a resident of this huge and beautiful world that so many people were worried for the sake of one single person, even if it was the Queen.

But the Queen wasn't just the ruler of Nintendopia… she was much more than that!

She was the goddess of protection who kept her followers from harm, the peaceful deity who watched over their sleep and the one being that was responsible for all life.

She was the center of all Nintendopia, and everyone knew it. So nobody, not even the most malicious criminals and dark beings would want to see her dead. Would she die, all of Nintendopia would wither away just like her. So it was no surprise that so many beings were worried about her health that day.

"If we only knew what the origin of her illness was," one of the doctors just said, a small Toad coming from the Mushroom Kingdom.

"I know, my dear colleague," said Dr. Stewart from the grand metropolis, Mute City. "She has no fever, doesn't cough, it really is no illness in the medical sense.

"I am convinced that it all has a mysterious background," a mystic from the kingdom of Altea sighed. "There has to be some unexplainable connection between the darkness that covers our world, and her illness."

"Oh, you magicians always want to see 'mysterious backgrounds'," a physician from Katina City huffed. "Where is your proof?"

"If you would pay more attention to the streams of magic, you would see that there is a connection," the mystic snapped.

"Now, now, dear colleagues, calm down!" Dr. Stewart frowned. "We really have more important things to do than to quarrel with each other!"

Suddenly, everyone went silent when the huge doors leading to the Queen's chambers opened and the most renowned doctor in all of Nintendopia appeared, and at the same time, one of the world's most renowned heroes: Dr. Mario.

Several whispers were going around the room as they all saw the gleaming rod the mustached man with the white doctor's overall was holding. They all recognized it instantly: It was one of the world's most powerful artifacts, the Star Rod. It is said that anyone who wields it would be granted every wish.

Dr. Mario cleared his throat. "I see all of you are-a surprised that I am holding the Star Rod! But let-a me tell you that I am just-a the bearer of the Star Rod, until I can give it to someone worthy."

Everyone went silent after the doctor had started talking. Seeing that everyone was listened, Mario continued: "Let me say that I am as helpless when faced with the Queen's-a illness as you are. Probably no one of us will find a cure in time. Who knows-a, maybe the cure is somewhere out there, hidden in a secluded part of Nintendopia! But to find it, we would need a very special person, someone who's-a not afraid to face all the dangers that are waiting on such a journey. What I mean to tell you is-a: We need a hero! And the Queen told me there would be only one hero who could find the cure in time, before-a the darkness covers-a all of our world! I will give him the Star Rod so he can show everyone that he's-a on a mission on behalf of our queen!"

He made a short pause before he said: "The name of this hero is-a Link! And I will go to him immediately to tell him more of his mission!"

And after saying those words, the good doctor left the room leaving all of the other doctors behind.

"WHAT was that hero's name again?" someone asked.

"Link or something like that…" another one answered.

And all of the doctors were shaking their heads with worry.


	4. A small village called Ordon

Several weeks after he left from the Palace of the Sky, Mario finally arrived at his destination: A small, secluded village located in the kingdom of Hyrule, known as Ordon Village!

The inhabitants mostly lived from farming, but they also traded with bigger towns. Ordon was mostly known for its prized pumpkins and the cheese which was produced from their goat's milk.

From what the Queen told Mario, the boy known as Link supposedly lived here, working as a farmhand. Mario wondered how such a boy would be able to save Nintendopia from the impending darkness, but he respected her decisions. And that was to bring the Star Rod to this boy.

When he arrived at Ordon, he was welcomed by a group of children that looked at him in awe. It must be a very rare occurrence that a visitor from another country would show up here.

Mario politely asked the children to bring him to the adults, and a young boy brought him to the mayor of the village.

Mario greeted him with all respect. "I've been told-a that a young man called Link is supposed to live-a here in this village. If that is-a correct, may I talk to him?"

The mayor seemed surprised. He looked at a young girl that was standing behind him, and she nodded and ran away.

"My daughter Ilia will go and get him," he then told the emissary. "In the meantime, would you like to come in? You must have made quite a long journey to get here."

"Thank you," Mario said and followed the mayor into his house, where they sat down on chairs.

After offering Mario a small meal and a bit of milk, the mayor cleared his throat. "The other people from the village didn't want to believe it, but I see the Star Rod in your possession. So that means you are an emissary from… from the Queen herself?"

Mario nodded. "Yes, I am! And before you ask, I am only here to give it to someone else-a, someone who is being chosen for an important mission."

The mayor gasped. "You can't mean… Link?"

Mario nodded. "I must admit, I was-a surprised at the Queen's choice-a, as I have never heard of him before, but she clearly told-a me that he was the one who's-a going to save Nintendopia. Tell me, is he a courageous young man?"

The mayor chuckled and then nodded proudly. "Indeed he is! Just a couple of days ago, one of the village's children has been kidnapped by a gang of Bokoblins, and he saved him all by himself, using just a wooden sword. Well, I suppose our blacksmith will have to give him a more suitable weapon for this mission…" He shook his head. "I still can't believe it… our Link, chosen for a mission for the Queen…"

Then the door opened, and the mayor's daughter returned, accompanied by a young man dressed in farmer's clothing.

"You wanted to talk to me, mayor?" the lad asked.

The mayor nodded. "Yes, I have! Link, this is Mario from, um…"

"The Mushroom Kingdom," Mario explained.

"Right, Mario from the Mushroom Kingdom… and he has something for you, Link!"

Link blinked in confusion. "For me?"

Mario nodded with a grin and showed the surprised boy the Star Rod, which was twinkling mysteriously.

Link looked at the artifact with a gasp. "That's the… Star Rod!"

Mario nodded. "Yes, and you are chosen to be its wielder, Link! The Queen herself told me to find you and leave the Star Rod in your hands."

Link accepted the rod from Mario with a shiver of awe. "But… but what for? And why me?"

"Well, I'm-a sure you have already heard of the spreading darkness that is covering many parts of our world…" Mario began, but he stopped himself when he saw the confused looks on the villagers' faces.

"What darkness?" Link wondered.

And Mario started to explain about the twilight that was about to engulf the entire world of Nintendopia, the Queen's illness and the hundreds of messengers that were currently coming to the Palace in the Sky.

When he was finished, Link, the mayor and Ilia looked at him in shock.

"To think… that we never knew of that until now…" the mayor murmured.

"And-a you are chosen to find a cure for our Queen's illness. She is convinced that if she is healed, the twilight will disappear."

"But… but why me?" Link muttered. "I mean, I am just a farmhand…"

"Don't belittle yourself, Link!" Ilia said with a smile. "I heard about how you saved Talo the other day. You are courageous, and Rusl taught you how to use the sword."

"I believe that there is-a a reason why the Queen chose you," Mario said. "She must expect great things from you if she trusts in-a your abilities."

Link took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay then, I am ready to do whatever it takes to save Nintendopia and the Queen. I don't know if I will be successful or not, but I will try my best!"

Ilia smiled at him and Mario nodded. "Now, remember that the Star Rod contains magical powers, but only use them when you are in dire need. It's main use for you will be that-a you can show other creatures that you are on a mission on behalf of the Queen. I know that-a there are certain dark races that possibly won't be too impressed, even when they see the Star Rod… but I am sure you will do fine."

"I'm ready," Link said. "When shall I go?"

"Right-a away!" Mario said. "While we are talking, the darkness is spreading. The sooner you find a cure, the better! Say everyone goodbye and prepare yourself for the long journey, then go!"

"I will talk to Rusl and ask him to give you the finest sword he has made, along with an Ordon Shield," the mayor said. "We want the hero of our village to return back home victorious!" He gave Link another proud smile, then he left the house.

"And I'm gonna go and prepare Epona for you," Ilia said. "I know I will be worried for both of you, but… I know you're gonna make the right decision." And she left as well.

Mario sighed. Well, that was taken care of.

He noticed how Link was looking after the girl and grinned. "You like her, do you?"

Link blushed. "Well, um… We've been friends since we were little kids… so yeah, I like her."

"You better make sure then that you come back in one piece-a," Mario said. "I know how it is-a to have a worried girlfriend…" And he thought back to Princess Peach, who probably was still waiting impatiently for his own return.

Although Link's mission would be far more important and drawn-out than his own…

"Link, there is-a something else-a the Queen wanted me to give you, by the way…"

----

The next day, the whole village was assembled to bid their hero farewell. The young daughter of the village's shopkeeper had prepared a big bag of supplies, and the blacksmith, a good friend of Link, was handing him a sword and a wooden shield.

Link was leading his big, brown mare Epona to the village's outskirts, dressed in the green outfit Mario had given him the earlier day. In it, he looked like a hero out of an ancient tale, and Ilia wasn't the only girl of the village that sighed when she took a look at him.

Link sat up on Epona's saddle and turned around one final time to his friends. "I'm gonna miss all of you…" he said.

"Be brave, boy!" Rusl, the blacksmith, said. "And don't lose your head out there, you hear me?"

"Make our village proud and come back in one piece!" the mayor said proudly.

"Good luck, Link!" Talo and the other children shouted as they waved.

Link waved back, turned around his horse and rode away, starting his grand adventure…

Mario wasn't there to see him off. His long journey to Ordon had been tiresome, and h was still asleep while Link was leaving. And after he woke up, he left the village pretty soon afterwards. Travelling back to his home country would be an adventure itself, nearly as thrilling as Link's epic tale.

But that's another story!


	5. Torvus Bog

Link rode the entire day. He made a small stop in Castle Town, Hyrule's capital, and asked around if the people knew anything about the impeding darkness. But the people couldn't help him further. He didn't really expect that he would find something here, so close to his home village. He bought a few supplies in the town's store and continued on his journey.

He came through the lands of the Zoras and left Hyrule behind. Over the following days, he and Epona travelled through the neighboring kingdom of Altea, the peaceful Eagleland and along the borders of Kanto, known for its huge Pokémon population. They stopped in many different cities and villages, but nobody could really help him further.

At the end of the fifth day, Link started to get sick of it. He knew the journey wouldn't be an easy one, and of course it was an honor to be the chosen hero of the Goddess herself… but searching through all of these kingdoms was just bothersome! He didn't even know what he was looking for! If at least someone would give him a hint…

Finally, at the sixth day, he and Epona reached a huge forest, even bigger than the forest he knew from back home, Faron Woods. It was Forever Forest, the same forest in which the four messengers met some time ago.

Link heard a bit about these woods, that they were inhabited by strange creatures. He heard about fuzzy critters that drop down from the trees and suck your blood, mischievous ghosts that love to play pranks on unsuspecting travellers and even carnivorous plant creatures.

Still, he couldn't find a single trace of a town or village nearby, so he had no choice but to camp out here in the woods. He wasn't too worried, though. Back home, he and Rusl had already slept a few nights in the forest while they were collecting wood for the village. Besides, Epona would wake him at once should she notice anything dangerous.

In the middle of the night, Link awoke when Epona gently nudged his shoulder. She nickered softly, but she didn't really act as if they were in danger.

Link sat up… and was faced with three weird-looking creatures that were sitting in front of them. They were not bigger than a goat and looked like huge buds, with small flowers sprouting from them. They had also small feet and intelligent faces.

"Good, you're finally awake!" one of the strange plants spoke up. "Sorry we had to wake you in the middle of the night, but this is really urgent!"

"What's going on?" Link murmured as he rubbed his eyes. "Who are you?"

"We are Bub-ulbs," explained the middle creature. "We've been living in this forest for a very long time now and we notice it right away when unusual things are happening. We noticed you were camping out here and we quickly came to talk to you."

"As soon as we saw and recognized the Star Rod, we agreed that we just had to inform you of the danger you are in," the right Bub-ulb said.

"What danger?" Link wondered. "What are you talking about?"

"The darkness…" said one of the creatures and shivered. "The spreading twilight… it's coming closer!"

Link froze. The twilight Mario told him about… would he finally come across it?

"The first time we saw it was when it approached the forest, two days ago," said the middle Bub-ulb, who Link assumed to be their leader. "It looked horrible… like some huge wall of pure darkness! And the shadows we saw moving in there…" He shuddered. "I don't even want to know what happened to those who came too close to it…"

"Did someone already enter the dark zone?" Link asked.

"A few of our friends…" the left Bub-ulb nodded sadly. "They never came back out… but in the night, we hear their shouts of anguish coming from within the twilight. And it's coming closer, hour by hour…"

"We came to warn you about this," said their leader. "This isn't a safe place anymore. Since you are on a mission for the Queen, we couldn't leave you behind. We don't know if there is a place we can escape to… this forest is the only place we ever knew…" He sighed. "In all of my life, I've never seen anything like this before…"

"There just has to be someone who knows something about this darkness," Link said.

"Legend has it that there used to be another forest in the far south," one of the Bub-ulbs said. "They say that an intelligent plant is living there, and that it is very old and wise."

"But we heard that several years ago, that forest has turned into a dangerous swamp," his friend said sadly. "Even if we could travel such far distances, it would be too dangerous there for us to go."

"In which direction is the darkness?" Link asked as he got up to his feet. "Can we see it from here?"

"You wanna see it?" the Bub-ulb asked with fear. When they saw that Link was serious, he and his two companions nodded at each other.

"Climb on that tree," the Bub-ulb leader said and gestured at the massive oak that was growing next to Link's camp site. "It's the oldest and biggest tree in the forest. From its very top, you can see the black wall… and that's where the twilight zone begins!"

Link didn't hesitate, reached for the lowest branches of the tree and skillfully climbed up, until he reached the treetop. From here, he had a good view over the dark forest.

And indeed, not too far away he could see a ghastly wall of darkness rising. It was pitch black and filled him with fear. So that was the evil force that threatened all of Nintendopia. It crept over the land like a plague that can't be stopped.

And he was supposed to find a remedy for all this? That was absurd!

The aura of fear the twilight was projecting was overwhelming, and Link decided to heed the Bub-ulbs' advice and get out of here before the darkness would reach him.

He climbed back down to thank them for their help… but when he reached the ground, the Bub-ulbs were gone!

"They helped me by warning me from the twilight…" he murmured. "There was no other reason to stay behind… so they fled to save themselves."

He quickly packed his things, mounted Epona and rode out of the doomed forest, in the opposite direction of where the darkness was coming from…

----

Pit put down the controller and sighed. Even though he didn't get to fight many enemies while controlling Link and Epona through all of these countries, the sheer intensity of the game overwhelmed him nearly as much as Link was overwhelmed by the twilight. It was amazing how much work the programmers must have put into this game. The graphical details were amazing and the sound effects and music were simply awesome, but what impressed him the most was the sheer size of the game world. He could travel through all different kinds of Nintendo worlds, seeing all kinds of different creatures, from Zelda monsters to Pokémon and the different races from the Mario games.

He was very, very glad that he found this game today.

----

Link only stopped his faithful mare when they were far away enough from Forever Forest. What he had seen today had frightened him tremendously, but it helped him to understand the dire situation the whole world was in. It would help him more than ever to focus on his mission. He had to find a cure for the Queen before it was too late!

He decided to search for the ancient plant creature the Bub-ulbs have told him about, so he rode southwards from now on. Back in his home village, he had heard a tale of that forest as well, and that some catastrophe has turned it into the deadly swamp that was today known as the 'Torvus Bog'.

He knew that it was probably going to be dangerous, but he had to take any chance to save Nintendopia.

After they had travelled three more days, they finally stood at the edge of the mist-covered bog.

"Here we are, Epona…" Link murmured. "The Torvus Bog…"

It was very gloomy in-between the trees and the rest of the plant life growing in there, and nobody knew where it was safe to walk and where not. The ground was safe only at a few certain spots, the rest was covered with quicksand, algae-covered mud holes and hidden pitfalls.

Link still decided to go in. As dangerous as this bog might be, it wasn't nearly as dangerous as the impeding twilight was.

Riding through the swamp would be suicide, so he dismounted and lead Epona around by her reigns. Epona snorted nervously as her hooves touched the soft ground, and Link knew that only her unswerving faithfulness made her overcome her fear.

For a while, they walked through the giant trees, listening to the choir of the hidden swamp creatures that might or might not be lurking about.

Then it happened! Link didn't know if it was his fault, if he could have prevented it if he had moved Epona to the side… but that didn't change it one bit: All of a sudden, Epona started to sink. She let out a sharp whinny and tried to gallop out of the soft morass she was suddenly standing in, but it was too late: Her massive body was dragging her down, and every single movement made it even worse.

"Epona!" Link shouted with fear as he tried to drag her forward on her reigns. "No, no, hang on! I'm gonna get you out of there!"

But he already knew it was too late. Epona had already sunken too much and her body was too heavy that he could have pulled her out of the swamp. So the only thing he could do was to stay by her side, hug her brown neck and sob softly.

Epona nickered and touched his face with her soft lips. When he looked at her, she made a movement with her head which he instantly understood: She didn't want him to be here when she was going to die.

Link wiped away his tears, but he accepted his friend's last wish. It pained him to leave his loyal mare behind like this, but he had no other choice: He still had a mission to complete, and there was nothing he could do for her. So he gave her neck one final hug, stood up and walked away. Before he vanished between the trees, he looked at her one last time, then he turned around and left.

----

Pit put down the controller. He had to take out a tissue before he could play on. He never expected to be any Nintendo game to be so sad. Epona had been a trusty mare in many of Link's incarnations throughout the latest part of video game history, and seeing her sink down in the swamp like that was saddening him almost as much as it was saddening Link.

He picked up the controller, sniffled a bit and kept on playing.

----

Link didn't know for how long he had been walking through the mist of Torvus Bog, as Epona's death was still on his mind.

He was still surprised when all of a sudden, he found himself no longer on a narrow path leading through the swamp, but at the edge of a huge clearing. A huge, but shallow pond was situated in its middle, and within that pond, a wondrous plant was growing.

It looked like an enormous flower bud, with huge, red petals and gnarly roots that were vanishing in the depths of the pond. The whole plant was bigger than his house.

Maybe that was the mysterious plant creature the Bub-ulbs have been talking about…

All of a sudden, a shudder went through the massive bulb, and a somber voice called out: "Who is he who disturbs my slumber? I haven't seen a human being coming through Torvus Bog for so many years… why have you come?"

Link gathered himself and coughed nervously. "Well, I… I am Link!" He pulled out his Star Rod. "And I am here on behalf of the Queen, to find out more about the twilight that is threatening our world! I have heard that an old and wise creature is supposed to live here… can you tell me if I found the one I was looking for?"

The voice chuckled. "I am old," the creature said. "And there are many things I have heard in my life… but I'm afraid it won't do you any good, doomed one! Have you not seen what the darkness has done to the beautiful forest that was once in this place?"

Link gasped. "The… the darkness was here? But I thought… I mean, doesn't it stay in one place?"

"Not always…" the voice whispered. "In a few cases, it just sweeps across the land, changing anyone who stumbles inside and turns them either into restless spirits… or mutates them into horrible beasts! The inhabitants of Torvus Bog are no exception…"

Link was very confused now. He wanted to ask the creature what it meant, but first, there was something more important he had to ask. "This darkness… or twilight… where does it come from? What can we do against it?"

A low groan was coming from the huge bulb. "I do not know where it comes from… probably no one does… but the only one who can know is too far away from here… you would never reach him in time…"

"Who?" Link shouted. "If there is anyone who can help us, tell me who it is!"

"In the far north…" the voice murmured. "There is a very strange land… with inhabitants that appear to have no logic at all. But the truth is, they carry a huge amount of knowledge… and only they can know how Nintendopia can be saved. But you can never reach them… it would take a lifetime to get there… now get out of here, before it's too late…"

"What is that place called?" Link asked. "Please, I have to know!"

Another, louder groan was coming from the plant. It was making the huge petals shake. "The Flat Zone…" the voice groaned. "It is called the Flat Zone…"

"Thank you!" Link said with relief. "Then Epona's death wasn't in vain! Now I can travel north and…"

"You… can do… nothing, young fool!" the creature croaked. "For all those years I have been waiting… the intense hunger was tormenting me… and now the darkness is once again taking over my mind… making me do things I would have never done before this place has turned into the Torvus Bog… but now I'm sooo hungry…"

A deep gurgle was coming from the pond, and Link suddenly felt very uneasy. What happened here?

"Soooo… hungry…" the voice groaned. "Sooo huuungryyy… eat… must eat… FLAAHGRA MUST EAT!!"

And all of a sudden, a huge monstrosity came bursting forth from the giant bulb. It almost looked like a cross between a huge centipede and a thorny vine. It had long claws that ended in sickle-like blades and a monstrous head from which sap dribbled like saliva. The darkness has mutated the guardian of the ancient woods into the horror of Torvus Bog… the mutant plant Flaahgra!

"EAT!" the monster cried and let out a shrill, horrible screech. "FLAAHGRA MUST EAT!"


	6. The Desert of Doubt

The entrance door to the house opened.

"Pit!" his father called upstairs. "We're back home!"

"Can't talk…" his son's strained voice shouted back. "Playing… fighting… huge… boss enemy… GAH!"

Pit's father rolled his eyes while helping his wife out of her coat. "Okay then, we'll tell you when dinner is ready!"

Pit's mother sighed. "I really think that boy needs a different hobby, he's always sitting in front of those games…"

----

Link rolled away when Flaahgra shot a burst of corrosive acid at him. He gritted his teeth. There was no way around it… he had to fight the beast!

He tried slashing it with his sword, but the thorny vines that surrounded the main bulb of the plant made it impossible to get any closer. He tried to shoot an arrow, but it just stuck harmlessly in the plant's thick hide.

"Why do the heroes always have to battle those nearly-invincible monsters?" he grumbled as he blocked one of Flaahgra's claw swipes with his shield. "It's gonna HAVE a weak point!"

"FOOD!" Flaahgra roared as it centipede-like body reared up into the air. "FLAAHGRA NEEDS… FOOD!"

"Okay, that's not helping!" Link winced as he ducked under yet another barrage of acid spores. He threw himself to the ground… and blinked when he saw the soft underside of the plant, behind the wriggling tentacles.

"That's it…" he murmured. "I've got to strike it there… but how? I can't get possibly get past those tentacles…"

That's when he remembered the useful items he acquired at Hyrule Town's market. Those might just do the trick… but it was his only chance!

"All right…" he murmured as he pulled out one of the bombs. "Here goes nothing…"

He lit the fuse, saw how Flaahgra reared back to fire another volley of spores at him, jumped to the side and rolled across the muddy swamp ground… and threw his bomb right in the middle of the writhing tentacles.

Just an instant later, the bomb exploded, making the plant monster screech out in pain.

"YOU HURT FLAAHGRA!" it yowled and looked at him with a murderous glare. "NOW YOU DIE!"

Link gulped. "Well, I guess I have to do that a few times more until he calms down…"

----

Flaahgra howled out in pain as the fire that was being set by the last explosion ran up his vines, reaching his main bulb.

Link panted heavily as he watched how the entire plant creature got engulfed by the flames. "Forgive me…" he murmured. "You might have been the guardian of this place before… but all I could do was to put you out of your misery!"

He sighed deeply as he sheathed his sword and put his shield on his back. Time to get out of this horrible bog and to continue his mission…

"The Flat World…" he muttered as he walked through the gloomy mists of Torvus Bog one last time. "And it's in the far north…"

But now that Epona was gone, he had to walk on foot. And he still had Flaahgra's last words in mind, before it turned into a savage beast: 'But you can never reach them… it would take a lifetime to get there…'

He just hoped he would find a quicker way of transportation before the twilight covered the whole world…

----

Pit put down the controller and massages his wrists. For the first boss battle of the game, that had been pretty intense. He also had the feeling that this story was far more darker than in any game he had played before. At least in the Nintendo games…

His tummy started rumbling, and he hoped his mother would finish making dinner very soon. This morning, she had promised him they would have his favorite food: Eggplant casserole.

----

Hunger and thirst were tormenting Link as he dragged his body across the dry wastes of an unknown land. He had listened to Flaahgra's advice and always walked north, but up to now, he never came across any sign of civilization. Nobody he could ask for the way, a fast mount or even something to eat.

He had finished his own rations hours ago, and now that the searing sun was burning down on him, he wished that he had at least left a bit of water.

'No,' he thought. 'This can't be the end… I just learned that there might be a way to save our world, and I can't give up now! The Queen and everyone else is counting on me!'

So he continued to drag himself into the direction he believed to be north, but it was very difficult to tell, as the plain desert looked similar in all directions, and the sun was always directly above him.

It was the Desert of Doubt… and if there was anything Link doubted at this moment, it was that only a wonder could save him now.

After what seemed like hours to him, Link finally came across something else than just endless dunes and rocky cliffs. But it wasn't really something that helped to raise any hope within him.

It was a canyon, so deep that he couldn't see its ground. Vultures were circling above it, hoping to feast on the remains of anyone who would die here.

It was certainly too wide to get across, and Link saw no bridge or anything similar, so he had no other choice but to walk along it, although he couldn't see any end… the canyon was reaching as far as the horizon.

'If only I had bought a hookshot or something similar…' Link sighed when he saw a gnarly tree standing on the other side of the canyon.

He walked for a while, and just as he started to believe that he would never reach the canyon's end, he heard a loud noise coming from below.

Link carefully walked up to the edge of the gaping chasm and saw something that made him gasp in surprise:

A truly gigantic spider's web was spun across the canyon… and within that web, a majestic-looking dragon was trapped, with bright, orange scales and huge wings.

From the burning flame at the tip of its tail, he recognized the creature as a Charizard, a Fire Pokémon that was not a real dragon, but was still recognized by many people as the king of all fire lizards. Charizards were proud Pokémon that didn't listen to anyone, not even after someone managed to capture them with a Pokéball. But if you manage to gain a Charizard's friendship, you'd have a friend for life!

But this Charizard was in a very perilous situation, as it was completely entangled by the web's threads, and the more he thrashed around, the more he got entangled. Even the burning flame on his tail was enough to burn through the threads, which were thicker than ropes. He might have been able to free himself using his fire breath, but at the moment, he needed it to protect himself from the spider web's owner.

It was a huge spider with hairy legs and nasty-looking claws, and a hideous, huge, single eyeball that was in the middle of its thorax. The two creatures were locked with each other in a fierce battle to the death, with both opponents clawing and biting at each other, the Charizard spitting out plumes of flame and the spider firing a dangerous beam of heat out of its single eye.

Link recognized the creature from the ancient tales. There was no doubt about it: It was Gohma, the spider queen!

"Stop!" he yelled. "In the name of the Queen, I command you to stop!"

But his voice wasn't loud enough to drown out the deafening roars of the two fighting beasts, and he realized he would have to get closer to make himself noticeable.

He carefully climbed down the steep cliff, always fending off the greedy vultures that tried to knock him down into the gaping abyss. Finally, he reached the spider web and started walking across its sticky surface.

When he was just out of reach of the fighting creatures, he pulled out the Star Rod and raised it above his head while he shouted: "STOP FIGHTING!!!"

Gohma heard the annoying voice behind her. Not liking the fact that somebody would sneak up behind her, she smacked the Charizard's muzzle once to stop him from breathing fire.

"Excuse me for a moment, yes?" she smirked as she tied up the Charizard's muzzle with her silk. The Fire Pokémon angrily shook his muzzle, but he was stuck for now.

Satisfied, the spider queen turned around and looked down at the tiny morsel that was holding something shiny in its hands. "Who do we have here?" she purred. "Something willingly came into my web? How considerate!"

Link came a step closer and gestured at the giant spider with the Star Rod. "Do you know what this is, Gohma?"

"Come a bit closer, human!" Gohma said in a soft voice. "Gohma has bad eyesight, you know?"

Link almost laughed out loud when he saw the giant eyeball staring down at him. Still, he did what she said and hoped that the Queen's rules would also apply to giant spiders.

"Well, would you look at that?" Gohma said in a surprised voice. "The Star Rod! A long time since I last saw it, yes indeed, a very long time…"

"So you do know it," Link said. "And you also know what that means, right? I am on a mission on behalf of the Queen!"

"What do you want from Gohma, human?" the spider said in an annoyed tone of voice. "Can't you see I'm busy?" She gestured at the captive Charizard, who was still struggling in her web.

"That's why I'm here," Link said. "I need that Charizard!"

"What for, little human?"

"I need someone to take me to the far north. I must find the Flat Zone… or else our world is doomed! So set him free, so he can take me there!"

"You are forgetting something, little human!" the spider queen grinned as she clicked with her mandibles. "You might be under the protection of the Star Rod, and the Queen… but that doesn't mean Gohma has to listen to your orders! The Queen never commands… she just creates the laws of nature every living being HAS to follow, even little ol' me…"

Link sighed. But he knew Gohma was right… he couldn't misuse his position as the Star Rod's wielder and tell others to obey him.

"Besides, I doubt that you would ever reach the Flat Zone in time, even with the Charizard's help," Gohma proclaimed. "It is too far away from here, it would take a lifetime to get there."

Link nodded sadly. He heard the very same thing from Flaahgra. "Then all is over…" he murmured. "The twilight will engulf all of Nintendopia, including you and me, Gohma…"

"Well, Gohma would at least have a nice meal before that happens," the spider smirked. "But, you know, there might still be a way Gohma could help you…"

Link stared at her with new hope. "There is? What way? Please, you must tell me!"

"Tut, tut!" Gohma wagged one of her claws. "You think Gohma would give such a valuable information away just for free? You will have to earn it first, human!"

Link sighed. "Okay… what do you want me to do?"

"Fight me!" Gohma said and jumped to her feet. "You win, and Gohma will tell you how to reach the Flat Zone in time!"

"And… if I lose?"

The spider queen grinned. "You lose… and Gohma will have a nice starter before her Charizard meal!"

Link gulped. But he knew he had no other choice.

"I accept your conditions, Gohma!" he said and brandished his sword.

"Excellent…" Gohma chuckled. Her mandibles clicked with anticipation. "And now, little human… prepare yourself!"


	7. Through the Warp Zone

„Pit!" his mother called. "Come down, honey, dinner's ready!"

"But Mooom…" Pit protested. "I'm in the middle of a fight here…"

"You come down here right this instant, young man, or we'll have an entirely different fight!"

"Ooooh, all right…" Pit sighed, paused the game just as Gohma was going to fire a thread of spider silk at Link and put down the controller. He then went downstairs into the dining room, where his parents were already waiting for him.

The eggplant casserole didn't taste as good as it usually did this evening. He just couldn't wait until he was finished, so he could get back to that game.

"So, how was school today?" his father asked casually.

Pit froze just as he was gonna swallow. A few seconds later, he did it anyways and stuttered: "W-w-well, it was, um… nice…"

"Good to hear," his father nodded and put some more food on his plate. "I really don't want to hear your teacher calling me again to tell me that you were absent from class again."

Pit sweatdropped. He really hoped his teacher would forget to do that again. But the chances that this would happen weren't much bigger than Link's survival chances in the middle of the desert…

After he was finished, he put down his fork and asked excitedly: "Can I go back up now?"

"Did you already do your homework, dear?" his mother asked.

"Sure!" Pit lied and crossed two fingers behind his back.

His mother nodded. "Then go right ahead! But remember not to stay up for too long, you still have school tomorrow."

Pit ran back upstairs and threw himself down on the floor, in front of his Wii. He grabbed the controller and pressed the Start button again.

----

Link cried out in surprise when the spider silk came shooting his way. He raised his shield, but the thread stuck to its surface.

Gohma laughed. "Now I've got you, hero!" And with a firm yank, she snatched the Ordon Shield out of his grasp.

She chuckled as she crawled over the fallen hero. "Now hold still, human… that won't hurt a bit!" And she opened her horrible mouth.

"YAH!" Link shouted as he chucked a bomb into her mouth.

Gohma closed her mouth and swallowed. "Huh?" she wondered. "That wasn't a tasty human…"

A dull explosion came from the inside of her stomach, and smoke came rising out of her mouth.

"G-gohma dislikes smoke…" she whined.

Meanwhile, Link was swiftly climbing up one of her spindly legs and crouched down on her broad back.

And then… he plunged his sword right into the middle of the huge eye.

"GYAAAAAAAAHH!" the spider queen screeched. "The pain… the pain… pull it out! Pull it out!"

"Do you surrender?" Link asked while he still sat on the back of the flailing spider. "Do you tell me how to reach the Flat Zone?"

"I will, I will, but PULL THAT CURSED THING OUT!"

Link pulled back his blade and winced when he saw that it was coated with icky spider-eye slime. He wiped his blade on Gohma's hairy back before sliding down her legs.

"Damn, that hurt…" Gohma whined. Her eye would grow back, and she had still her smaller eyes on the front side of her skull, but she wouldn't be able to spy for potential prey that was coming past the canyon for a while.

"Well, what about the Flat Zone?" Link asked.

"There… there is a hidden chamber underneath my lair…" Gohma grumbled. She hated losing. "In there is a secret passage to the ancient 'Warp Zone'. Its pipes are leading to several countries and kingdoms throughout Nintendopia… and one of them will lead you to the Flat Zone!"

"If there are that many pipes, how will I recognize the right one?" Link asked.

"Ah, that's pretty easy if you know what you are looking for. To reach the Flat Zone, simply try to find the only pipe that is completely black. You can't really miss it."

"Good," Link said. "I would thank you, but as I knew you only did this to save our world from the twilight…"

"Yyyeahh…" Gohma mumbled. "Suuure I did…" She threw Link a long thread of spider silk. "Here, tie this around your body and I'll help you getting down there."

Link nodded and did as she said. He then carefully sat down on the web's edge and slid down, while Gohma carefully lowered his body into the depths of the canyon.

It took her some time, but finally, Link's feet touched the ground. He freed himself from the web with his sword and yanked twice to signalize that he had arrived at the bottom of the pit.

Gohma nodded with satisfaction. She was still upset that he pierced her big eye, though. But otherwise, it had been a win-win situation for her. Now that she lost, there was a slight chance that he would find a way to save Nintendopia. Had she won, he would have been part of her dinner.

Ah yes, her dinner…

She turned around and chuckled with glee when she imagined the taste of fresh Charizard meat in her mouth… but gasped in surprise when she didn't see the Fire Pokémon behind her back, but instead a gaping hole in her beautiful web, created by a scorching fire.

"Whaaaat?" she cried in outrage. "That blasted lizard… now I have to wait a week until something else will land in my web… and I can't even spy out the skies without my big eye…"

She sniffled as she dropped down on her stomach. "Life is so unfair…"

----

Link looked at the dark cave entrance in front of him. So somewhere in there must be the Warp Zone…

A sudden thud and a soft roar made him turn around in shock. He was very surprised to see the Charizard standing behind him, the very same one that had been trapped in Gohma's web before.

"What the… how did you come here?" he wondered.

The Charizard growled and flapped his wings.

"You wanna tell me something?" Link asked in confusion. "Sorry, I don't know what you mean! I wish I could understand you somehow…"

He didn't realize how the Star Rod in his backpack started to react to that wish he just made. A soft light came out of his bag, and suddenly, the Pokémon's roars and growls turned into understandable words.

"…just want to say that I wouldn't have a chance to escape if you didn't show up. During your battle with Gohma, I had no chance to free myself. But then I heard what she told you about the Warp Zone and figured, I could use that to escape by myself. I just had to free my muzzle from that spider silk, and I was able to burn my way free. And here I am!"

Link blinked. "Did you… just talk?"

Charizard blinked in surprise. "So, you understood me?" he growled in a deep voice. "Well, the Star Rod must have heard your wish, then. You wished to understand me, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so…" Link murmured. "Listen, what I said earlier still applies: I could use your help. Even after I visited the Flat Zone, my mission is not over yet. In the end of my journey, I have to return to the Palace in the Sky to report to the Queen, and who knows where else I'll have to go before that… I lost my horse in the Torvus Bog…" He sighed when he remembered the sad event. "But with your wings, I could reach all places I want to go to much quicker."

Charizard thought about it. In the end, he shrugged. "Sure, why not? I don't have anything better to do. And you are right, you will need my help. Using the Warp Zone might be the quickest way of travelling, but nothing beats soaring through the skies, and to be honest, we Charizards ARE the best flyers there are."

Link chuckled. "Well, first, we have to find that black pipe that's leading to the Flat Zone…"

"No problem!" Charizard grunted and stomped into the cave. "Follow me, my tail will light the way!"

Link followed his new friend through the darkness. After some time, he spoke up: "Oh, I still haven't asked you for your name…"

"I have none…" Charizard's voice echoed through the tunnel. "We Pokémon recognize each other by scent, smell and in my species' case, by body heat. You can call me simply Charizard, that's what most Pokémon Trainers do."

"But… I'm not a Pokémon Trainer."

Charizard chuckled. "Doesn't matter, just call me Charizard!"

"Um… okay!" And for a while, the two of them simply followed the tunnel.

After some time, they entered a huge room that was filled with pipes. Most of them were green, but there were also many blue ones, and also a few red and yellow ones.

Link looked around. "Now all we have to do is to find the black pipe…"

"Found it!" Charizard roared from a corner of the room.

Link ran over to him, and indeed, the Fire Pokémon was standing in front of a huge pipe that was a shimmery black.

They both looked down, but could see nothing but blackness.

"So, w just jump down there?" Link asked, a bit uneasy.

"I don't see any other option," Charizard grumbled. "Who wants to go first?"

"I go first!"

"Why's that?"

"If you get stuck in there, I might not be able to get you free, and then I would never be able to reach the Flat Zone," the green-clothed boy chuckled.

"Oh, haha, very funny!" Charizard growled. He still stepped back from the pipe so Link could get in first.

Link swung his legs over the pipe's edge, looked down into the darkness, gulped nervously… and let go.

The feeling was comparable with a wild roller coaster ride, although there were no loopings, and Link wouldn't know what that was. In the end, he shot out of the other end of the pipe and landed on a grass-covered floor.

He looked around. All around him, luscious trees and other types of vegetation was growing. It was very warm, but not as dry and torrid as the sun in the desert.

"Looks like a jungle…" he muttered. "This is supposed to be the Flat Zone?"

Suddenly, something very heavy crashed into him from behind and pressed him down to the ground.

Charizard looked around. "Link? Where are you?"

"Down here…" came the groaning response.

Charizard looked down and realized that he was sitting on his new friend. He quickly stood up and chuckled. "Sorry 'bout that, but I couldn't control where I was flying after I came shooting out of that pipe."

Link sat up and held his head. He was only seeing stars.

"Why won't the trees stop spinning?" he mumbled… and then he saw something that made him believe the knock on his head might have been worse than he though, and he started to see things.

An ape was standing in front of them… an ape that was dressed in a green vest, had a long, white beard and was propped on a gnarly stick.

"Welcome on Kongo Island!" the ape said in a shaky voice. "The gateway between video game eras!"

Link blinked. "What?"


	8. Meeting the Kongs

Link blinked. „Who... are you?"

"My name, young lad, is Cranky Kong!"

Link blinked again. "You're an ape!"

"So what?"

"How can you TALK?"

The elderly ape cackled, which turned into a fit of coughing. After he had calmed down, he said: "You still have to learn much about our world, youngster! Talking animals aren't the weirdest thing you'll see in your life. Why, when I was a young little monkey, I would have never believed that creatures like your fiery little friend existed."

"Who's fiery?" Charizard grumbled in annoyance.

Link scratched his head. "Say… I have the feeling the pipe we just came through malfunctioned. We actually wanted to go to the Flat Zone."

"Yes, I know!" Cranky nodded. "That's why you're here! Kongo Island is the closest the Warp Zone can bring you if you're looking for the Flat Zone. Oh, many travellers have searched for the wisdom of the Flat People… but only very few returned. And nobody of them could help me with my research…" he sighed.

"Your research?" Link wondered. "What research?"

"I'm trying to solve the biggest mystery of Nintendopia, my boy!" Cranky grinned. "Who are those so-called 'Flat People' that inhabit the Flat Zone? What do they look like? And most important: Why would nobody who came to me after reaching the Flat Zone talk to me and tell me what they have seen?"

"Well, I could tell you, when I come back… that is, if I only knew where the Flat Zone is…"

"Patience, my dear friend, patience!" the old ape said. "First of all, let's go to the shack my wife, my good-for-nothing grandson and I are living in. Let's have a nice meal together, and then we can talk all about the Flat Zone."

Link looked at Charizard, who shrugged.

Link sighed. "Okay, looks like we have no choice… lead the way!"

Cranky grinned. "Just follow my lead, boys!"

And while they were following their strange leader, Cranky started to prattle about all kinds of different things: "Oh, I'm telling you, video games aren't made how they used to be… all this weird 3D-nonsense and the fancy sound effects… and on top of that, those complicated controls! In my time, all we needed were a simple display and two buttons, that's all!"

----

Pit put down the controller. He couldn't hold it back anymore… he had to pee!

He quickly ran down to the bathroom, ignored his mother's surprised question if he was feeling fine and closed the door behind him. Seconds later, a sigh of relief could be heard from within.

After flushing, he came back out of the bathroom and sighed. That was the most annoying part of playing video games for such a long time: You had to interrupt the game every now and then to take care of, um, 'business'.

He hesitated when he walked past the kitchen. Now that he was here, he could very well use this chance to take a little snack upstairs with him.

He made sure his parents didn't notice him, ran over to the fridge, quickly snatched a few sandwiches his mother had prepared for the movie evening she and her husband had planned, and took them upstairs. He made sure to leave a few behind, though.

He put the sandwiches down on the floor and sat down next to them. Satisfied, he picked up the controller and resumed playing…

----

Link was surprised to see that the family of apes was living just like normal humans would. They were living in a tree house with furniture, a TV set and even functional plumbing.

And the fruit salad Cranky's wife Wrinkly Kong had prepared was absolutely delicious.

Cranky's burly grandson Donkey Kong grinned at Link. "So, another adventurer on his way to seek the Flat Zone? Cranky's crazy tales must have attracted more weirdos than I thought…"

"Behave yourself, Donkey!" Wrinkly said sternly. "He is our guest."

"And you should treat my research with a bit more respect, boy!" Cranky added in a gruff voice.

DK mumbled something, but Link couldn't quite understand what he meant, as he had put a big banana in his mouth at the same time.

Link looked around. "Hey, where's Charizard?"

The elderly female ape smiled at him. "Cramped houses like ours aren't suited for Pokémon like him. He prefers to stay outside. Besides, I don't think his kind are herbivores, so I prepared him a bit of Gnawty meat."

Link wisely decided not to ask what a Gnawty was.

When he was finished, he put down his spoon with a sigh. "That was delicious, Mrs. Kong! Thanks for the meal… you know, after walking through the Desert of Doubt, you'd really appreciate a good meal like this."

"Whoa, the Desert of Doubt?" DK asked in surprise. "You really have come a long way, just to see if Cranky's crazy dream is true…"

"I thought I told you not to make fun of the Flat Zone anymore!" Cranky angrily shouted and waved around his cane. "I'm telling you, the Flat Zone exists! And one of these days, I'm going to prove it! If only one of our visitors would stay to tell me what they have seen…"

"Well, yeah, I just wanted to ask Link why he came here all this way from the south…" DK mumbled.

Link scratched the back of his head. "Well, you see, somebody told me the people living in the Flat Zone would be very wise and knowledgeable…"

"That's what everyone else tells me, too," Cranky nodded.

"Well, and I'm kinda on a mission… I'm here to find out why the Queen is sick."

DK blinked. "The queen? Um… what queen?"

"He meant THE Queen, you oaf!" Cranky grumbled and gave his grandson a good rap on the head with his cane. "Haven't you seen the Star Rod he's carrying around?"

"Oh, so you noticed?" Link asked in surprise.

Wrinkly nodded. "When you're as old as we are, dear, you tend to know more about this world than the young ones…"

DK rubbed his head. "Hey, as long as I can keep the island safe, everything else is fine, right?"

Cranky groaned. "Shows how much you know about the Queen and the world…" he muttered. "If the Queen dies, we ALL are done for, you got that, idiot?"

DK winced. "No need to yell…"

His grandfather sighed as he handed his empty bowl to his wife. Then he folded his hands and looked at Link sternly.

"Now we can talk about the Flat Zone," he said. "Go ahead and ask me everything you wanna know!"

"Well, okay… what exactly IS the Flat Zone?"

He gulped when the old ape let out a groan of frustration. "Boy, you sound just like my dim-witted grandson! I already told you, nobody is sure about that! Can't you start with small questions?"

"Well, okay…" Link thought about it. "The entrance… is it located somewhere on this island?"

"That's better," Cranky nodded. "And yes, the gate leading to the Flat Zone is inside the old ruins of Kongo Island. I must know, since that's where all the travellers that were looking for the wisdom of the Flat People were headed."

"And when I'm through that gate… can I talk to them?"

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid," Cranky sighed. "See, there is not just one gate, but three. And only if you have walked through all three gates, you will have entered the Flat Zone."

"I suppose walking through those gates will be a bit more difficult than to enter your tree house, right?" Link assumed.

Cranky chuckled. "You're a smart boy, Link! No, of course it won't be that easy! Let me tell you of the nature of those gates…

Well then… the first one is called the Nintendo Quiz Door. The second one is called the Gameboy Screen Door. And the third one is called the Reset Button Door."

"Weird names…" Link murmured. "So how do I get past these doors?"

"To get past the Nintendo Quiz Door, you will have to answer a few questions. The door will ask you anything about Nintendopia, and you'll have to answer them. You can give a wrong answer three times. If you answer all three questions correctly, you may pass and go to the next door. But if your answer is wrong three times…"

Link had a bad feeling about this. "Then… what?"

Cranky stared at him grimly. "Game… Over!" he said darkly.

Link gulped. "Um, okay… I just have to answer them correctly, I think… Well, what about the other gates?"

"Behind the Nintendo Quiz Door lies the Gameboy Screen Door," Cranky explained. "Imagine it as some huge television screen or something like that."

"Television?" Link wondered. "What's that?"

Cranky sighed and gestured to the Kong's own TV set. "That's a TV! Now, as I said, this gate is something like a huge screen, and you will have some vision of you look at it. I don't really know how it works exactly… but the visions my visitors got are so different that I can't really tell what the big idea behind this gate is."

"But you can walk through the gate, right?" Link asked.

"Of course!" Cranky giggled. "Or else it wouldn't be a gate, right? But don't you think for once that it is going to be easy. I have seen a few poor fellows that were so scared by what they have seen that they ran away in horror, and my dear wife had to use her herbal teas to calm them down again."

"Okay then… and the last gate?"

The old ape sighed. "Yes, the last one… the Reset Button Door! Now that's the most difficult to get through. It looks pretty plain, but I think it is made of a material that reacts to your own feelings."

"My… feelings?" Link wondered.

Cranky nodded. "Yes, indeed! You could say that the gate has a mind of its own… or so I've been told. And I think only those that the gate really believes to be worthy of entering the Flat Zone will get past there."

"But if the gate thinks I'm not worthy… then maybe I can't get in at all, and my whole journey would have been for nothing!"

Cranky shrugged. "Well, I already told ya: The Reset Button Door is the most difficult one."

Link stood up. "Well, I know that I have to try it. If the Flat People know a way how to save the Queen and Nintendopia, then I must risk it. Can you please show me the way to those ruins, please?"

DK stood up as well. "I'll bring you there," he murmured. "You don't know these jungles as I do, buddy! Let's just hope we don't run into any Kremlings."

"What are Kremlings?" Link wondered.

The huge ape growled. "Just a bunch of lousy reptiles that are after our hoard of bananas all the time! But don't worry, we haven't heard of them for a long time…"

"Still, be careful, you two!" Wrinkly said. "We never know what King K.Rool is up to."

After they had climbed down the tree house, Charizard looked up from the meat he was just tearing apart with his jaws. "Where are you going?"

"To the gates of the Flat Zone," Link explained. "Are you coming, too?"

Charizard gulped down the rest of his steak. "Of course!" he grumbled. "I'd never miss an adventure like this!"


	9. The Three Gates

Link looked up in awe at the huge stone monkeys that were flanking the entrance to the ruins.

"So in here is the entrance to the Flat Zone?" he murmured.

"Well, at least according to my granddad," DK murmured. "I still don't know what I should think about that anymore… but if you really manage to get there an tell Cranky how it was, I would be willing to believe him."

Charizard sniffed the air and growled. "Smells like a Muk shriveled up in here and died…" he muttered.

"Yeah, that's because the bananas growing from the trees around here are overripe. I learned to ignore the stench after living here for all my life…"

Link looked ahead and saw the Nintendo Quiz Door standing in front of him. It looked like a huge portal, decorated with multiple carvings showing a monkey, a weird ball with a stylized 'S' in its middle, a few stars and three triangles that looked strangely familiar to him…

"So… how does this work?" he asked the burly ape next to him.

DK shrugged. "You just go and open the door, I suppose!"

Link raised an eyebrow, but then he simply stretched out his hand and reached for the massive door's handle.

All of a sudden, a golden, gleaming inscription appeared on the door's surface.

"Whoa!" Link shouted and stumbled back. "Well, that came out of nowhere…"

"What does it say?" Charizard asked.

Link turned around to face his Pokémon friend. "Don't tell me you can't read…"

The fire dragon growled at him. "We Pokémon are creatures of the wild, we rarely have the need to read books!"

"Oh, right…" Link murmured and looked back at the shining letters. "Traveller who seeks to enter the Flat Zone, you may only enter if you answer the following question: What are the names of the three goddesses that created Hyrule?"

"What does that mean?" DK wondered and scratched his head.

"Well, I don't know why they would ask me that, but that's pretty simple."

"It is?" Charizard asked.

Link nodded. "Yeah, I am from Hyrule, and we all know the ancient legends. The goddesses that created Hyrule were Din, the Goddess of Power, Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom, and Farore, the Goddess of Courage!"

The light shining from the golden letters brightened for a short time, and then a new question appeared on the gate.

"Well, it looks like your answer was correct," DK shrugged. "Well, let's see… Which Pokémon is famous for its urge to collect small, shiny things?"

"I know that one," Charizard spoke up. "That's Meowth!"

Link blinked when the golden words once again brightened. "Well, if all those questions are that easy, I'll be able to enter the Flat Zone in no time…"

"But here's the last one," DK pointed out.

Link nodded and read: "What is the name of the flagship which is owned by the mysterious Meta-Knight?"

They all looked at each other.

"What?" Charizard grumbled.

"Who's that supposed to be?" Link wondered.

"Never heard of the guy!" DK shook his head.

"Oh, that's just great!!" Link groaned. "How am I supposed to save Nintendopia if that door asks me a random question I could never answer?"

----

"Aw, c'mon!" Pit shouted impatiently. "That's sooo easy! Everyone who has played the Kirby games must know that one. It's the Halberd, of course!"

----

Link blinked. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" DK asked.

"I… I don't know…" Link mumbled. "But somehow, I've got the feeling that… I know the answer."

"What?" Charizard wondered. "But didn't you say just now that you didn't know…?"

"I know it sounds strange, but… it was as if the answer suddenly popped up in my head."

"Uh-huh…" DK grunted skeptically. "And what is the answer, then?"

"It's the Halberd!" Link said.

The golden letters glowed up one last time, then they disappeared, and the whole door slowly opened before him. Behind it, he could see a big, empty room, and the Gameboy Screen Door.

"Well… that went pretty good," Charizard grumbled.

Link nodded. "Yeah… but don't ask me how I knew this, okay? Let's just go in there and…"

"We can't go with you," DK suddenly said.

Charizard and Link looked at him with surprise. "What?" Link asked. "But why not?"

"The Nintendo Quiz Door wouldn't let us," the ape explained. "I've seen it several times how many people tried to pass the gate at once… but an invisible force would stop everybody but one person. Only one person at a time can enter the Flat Zone."

Link sighed. "Oh well, it's not as if I wanted to stay there for a while… I'll just go through the other two doors, try to find one of those 'Flat People' and ask him my question. Then I'll come back. You don't mind, do you, guys?"

"Fine with me…" Charizard grumbled as he lay down on the stone floor. "Then I can take a little nap in the meantime…"

"Well, whatever is waiting for you behind those doors… watch your back, okay?"

"I will," Link nodded. "See ya later, DK, Charizard!"

He walked through the Nintendo Quiz Door and it closed behind him with a dull thud.

In front of him, the Gameboy Screen Door was waiting. It looked like the LCD screen of a small handheld console, although Link wouldn't know what that is. The screen was as wide as a Dodongo's gaping maw, and he could read several strange inscriptions next to it.

A small, red light was shining on the door's left, with the single word 'Battery' underneath. And above the screen itself, he could read the message 'Dot Matrix With Stereo Sound'.

He tried not to understand the meaning of these weird sentence, as all of his attention was focussed on the image on the screen.

Link was holding his breath, as he remembered what Cranky told him about the horrifying images some people have seen when they came here. So he prepared for the worst and approached the gate.

But what he saw on the screen surprised him immensely: It wasn't a horrible monster or anything like a mysterious figure…

It was a young boy, sitting in a strange room, who was holding a weird device in his hands and stared at the screen intently.

----

Pit gasped when he saw Link's eyes looking directly at him from within his TV's screen. He didn't just look out of the screen, he looked AT HIM!

Could it be? Could it be that the boy Link was seeing was really him? The idea was just too fantastic!

He forced his heart to stop pounding and reached for the controller he had dropped in his state of shock.

"Pit…" he told himself. "You really are crazy if you think that they meant you!"

His hands were still shaking when he resumed playing. "Just imagine what would happen if they really knew about you in Nintendopia… that would be way too wicked…"

----

Link shook his head. He really couldn't understand what that vision was all about. All he knew was that the way through the Gameboy Screen Door was free, and all he had to do was just to step through that screen, as if it was a portal leading to a different world…

He took a deep breath, walked up to the gate, looked one final time up at the startled face of the boy, then he walked right through the screen.

It felt as if he was passing the rippling surface of a smooth lake. But when he reached the other side, he didn't get wet at all.

He was standing in another empty room. In front of him, the Reset Button Door was waiting.

Link sighed. Only one more gate, and he'd be able to see the people of the Flat Zone…

He looked closely at the door. It was made from some blue, very smooth material. It was also very hard. He doubted he would be able to dent it with any of his weapons. In the middle of the gate, he could see a grey, perfectly round circle, with the word 'Reset' on its side.

He remembered Cranky's words: Only those that the gate really believes to be worthy of entering the Flat Zone will get past there.

He walked forward and cleared his throat. "Um… I am Link, here on behalf of the Queen of Nintendopia. I am here because I need to know more about the sickness she is suffering from. May I pass?"

No response. Link didn't know what he had to expect, but at least something should have happened by now. He raised his hands and put them both on the grey circle in front of him. Still nothing.

He was getting worried. What if the gate didn't see him worthy at all to reach the Flat Zone? Then his quest was doomed, along with the Queen!

----

"Come on…" Pit muttered. "There has to be a way to get past there… Okay, Pit, think, it's a riddle… and there's a solution to every riddle in a video game! The image on the door… that must be the solution."

He also recalled the gate's name: The Reset Button Door. Did that mean he had to…

He knew it was risky. By doing that, he would risk most of what he had accomplished in that game. And by the way, who had ever heard that you had to press THAT button in the middle of the game?

Then again, Mr. Hando had told him that this game was unlike everyone he had played before, so…

Pit decided to give it a shot and reached forward, until his index finger touched the Reset Button. And then… he pressed it!

----

Link gasped in surprise when suddenly, the grey circle in front of him got pressed inwards, as if it was being moved by invisible hands. Light came streaming forth from the gate as it slowly opened.

Link looked carefully through the gate and saw nothing but whiteness in front of him. Was that the Flat Zone? So why couldn't he see anything?

Finally, he took a deep breath… and walked through the open gate.


	10. Mr Game & Watch

Link looked around. He was in the middle of a huge amount of white nothingness.

But no… that wasn't quite correct! When he looked down, he could see a thin brown line going underneath his feet.

His feet… he gasped in surprise when he realized that not only his feet, no his legs, his arms, his stomach… everything was as thin as a piece of paper.

He suddenly realized why this strange place was called the 'Flat Zone'… everything within, even visitors from outside, are taking on a two-dimensional shape.

And that brown line beneath his feet… was that supposed to be the ground?

Link tried walking into another direction, but he quickly realized that he couldn't go left or right… he had to follow that thin line.

"Well…" he sighed. "At least that makes finding the Flat People a lot easier… there's only one way I can take, after all."

He started walking. After some time, he saw other things that broke the monotony of the brown line. He saw several straight lines in the air that were parallel with the ground, he was two-dimensional trees standing next to the path, as well as houses, boulders and other objects. He could even see a few two-dimensional clouds floating in the white sky above him.

Just as he wondered if there was any sun at all in this weird land, he heard a strange beeping sound. He turned around and saw how a very strange figure had appeared in the now open door of one of the houses. It had the rough figure of a man, but was very spindly, had a huge, round head with a knobby nose and moved with unusual, jerky motions.

"Um… hello there!" Link decided to break the silence. "Are you one of the Flat People?"

The strange man gave off another beeping sound as he held up his arm and approached the green-clad visitor. His feet were making a number of different clicking sounds.

When he was standing in front of Link – or next to Link, in this world, there was no real difference between the two – he held up a big, black sign with several words on it.

Link read: 'Game & Watch'.

The Hylian hero shook his head in confusion. "I am watching, but I'm afraid I don't have any time to play any games, but if you could just tell me…"

The weird creature tapped his shoulder to interrupt him and shook its head. It tipped on its own thin tummy and gestured at the sign again: 'Game & Watch'.

Now it dawned to Link: The strange man couldn't speak, so he tried to tell him his name in this way.

"Game & Watch, huh?" Link said. "Well, my name is Link, and I am from Hyrule. Nice to meet you!"

Game & Watch nodded and shook hands with Link. Although his motions were still a bit jerky.

"Say… I'm on a mission from the Queen, you know? You know who the Queen is, right?"

Game & Watch let out a sharp beep and raised a sign with a green circle. Link assumed that this meant 'yes'.

"Well, I don't know if you heard, but… she is seriously sick. And that is a danger for all of us in Nintendopia. I've come here because somebody told me that the people living in the Flat Zone would be very knowledgeable."

Game & Watch looked like he was going to blush any minute, only that this would be pretty difficult for a being who was pitch black.

"Okay, so you do understand me… but is it correct? Do you know of a way to save the Queen and our world?"

Game & Watch tapped his finger against his round chin, then a light bulb appeared above his head with a clear 'ding'. He pulled out a small bell and rang it.

Link winced at the shrill sound of the bell, but was surprised to see how suddenly, a huge TV screen appeared in the 'background' of the Flat Zone. At first, there was only static (just a bunch of black zigzag lines, to be honest), but then a message appeared on it.

'THE TWILIGHT IS AN EVIL FORCE CAUSED BY AN UNKNOWN ENTITY WITHIN NINTENDOPIA. NO MAGIC, TECHNOLOGY OR KNOWLEDGE FROM ANY OF US WOULD BE ENOUGH TO HELP HER.'

Link was very surprised when he read those word. "B-b-but…" he stuttered and looked at the retro creature standing next to him. "Isn't there anything we can do? And who would want to see Nintendopia's demise, anyway?"

Game & Watch gestured at the screen again, where new words appeared: 'WE DON'T KNOW THE IDENTITY OF THE MASTER OF TWILIGHT, BUT THERE MIGHT STILL BE A WAY TO SAVE US ALL.'

"Really?" Link asked hopefully. "How? Tell me, what must be done?"

He looked back at the screen. 'NO INHABITANT OF NINTENDOPIA IS ABLE TO CURE THE QUEEN. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD OUT THERE, WITH HUMANS THAT SEE US ONLY AS DATA FRAGMENTS, AS IMAGES ON A SCREEN. THEY ARE BEINGS THAT EXIST BEYOND EVERY RULE THAT APPLIES FOR NINTENDOPIA. BUT THEY DON'T KNOW THAT WE REALLY EXIST. IF ONE OF THEM – ONLY ONE – WOULD REALIZE HOW REAL WE AND OUR WORLD ARE, THERE MIGHT BE A SLIGHT CHANCE THAT SUCH A HUMAN WOULD COME TO OUR WORLD. AND IF SUCH A HUMAN EXIST, HE WOULD BE ALSO ABLE TO SAVE THE QUEEN. THERE IS ONE SINGLE THING HE MUST DO, AND THE TWILIGHT WOULD BE BANISHED.'

"What must he do?" Link asked.

'HE MUST FIND OUT… THE QUEEN'S TRUE NAME… AND SPEAK IT OUT LOUD! ONLY THEN CAN NINTENDOPIA BE SAVED!'

The sheer intensity of what the small, two-dimensional man told Link overwhelmed him. So there was a world outside of Nintendopia, and their inhabitants could save the Queen by guessing her real name?

He then looked at Game & Watch with determination. "If that's what it takes to save us, I'm gonna do it! But… but how can I find this strange world? How do I get there?"

'THEIR WORLD LIES BEHIND THE SCREEN,' Game & Watch's message told him. "GO PAST NINTENDOPIA'S BORDERS, AND YOU WILL FIND IT.'

"I will…" Link said. "I swear, I will find those humans and bring one of them to Nintendopia."

'GOOD,' another message appeared on screen. 'AND NOW, WE MUST PART WAYS…'

"Why?" Link asked in confusion. "Am I not allowed to stay in the Flat Zone for too long?"

Even though the little guy had no real expression on his face, he seemed sad when he gave Link the answer: 'THE TWILIGHT IS APPROACHING THE FLAT ZONE, AND EVEN I AM NOT SAFE FROM IT. I CANNOT EXIST OUTSIDE OF OUR TWO-DIMENSIONAL LAND, BUT YOU JUST FLEE, SO YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH YOUR MISSION. AND TELL THE INHABITANTS OF KONGO ISLAND THAT IT IS NOT SAFE FOR THEM TO STAY EITHER.'

"The Twilight…" Link murmured. Now it was spreading even into the Flat Zone? He wanted to tell Game & Watch how sorry he was and that he would have done anything to save him… but he realized that the retro creature was telling him the truth, that he couldn't exist outside of the Flat Zone.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for you…" he finally muttered. "But I promise you to find a way to stop the Twilight. Maybe… maybe then you and everyone else who fell victim to this evil darkness will be saved."

'I CAN'T SAY FOR SURE, BUT I HOPE YOU ARE RIGHT. GO NOW; UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE!"

"O-okay," Link nodded. "Thank you! Thanks for everything! I won't ever forget you!"

And so he left Game & Watch behind, the little two-dimensional man waving after his visitor. And as if he wanted to salute him, he pulled out a small flag and waved it over his head… in a jerky motion, of course, accompanied by little beeping sounds…

----

Pit down the controller.

"Strange…" he murmured. "That no resident of Nintendopia can help the Queen…"

He knew that all of this was nothing but a game, but he really wished he could help Link and the Queen… he even already had a hunch what the Queen's name could be.

"Oh well…" he sighed. "Seems like I'm confined to be the guy behind the controls…"

He picked the controller back up and resumed playing.

----

Link awoke with a gasp. What happened? Had everything been nothing but a dream?

He noticed that he was lying on the floor of the stone chamber in front of the Nintendo Quiz Door… but the door itself was in ruins, lying strewn around him in pieces. And the entrance to the other chambers… was gone!

He realized that he really did make the trip to the Flat Zone, did talk to Game & Watch and heard about the world lying outside of Nintendopia.

But why was he lying here on the ground? The last thing he remembered was going back through the Reset Button Door… and then… he knew nothing! And what happened to the gates? Did that mean that nobody would ever set his foot inside the Flat Zone again?

And where were his friends? He looked outside and gasped when he realized that the palm trees had changed colors and were now a dull grey.

And far away, behind the outlines of DK Mountain… he could see a massive wall of blackness that was approaching the island.

The Twilight! So Game & watch was right, Kongo Island was now threatened as well. He had to get out of here… but first, he had to find his friends.

He quickly ran back through the now colorless jungle, hoping he would find his friends again. "Charizard!" he shouted. "Donkey Kong! Cranky! Are you there?"

Just when he saw the tip of the tree house appeared through the tree tops, he also saw a big, orange lizard with wings rise out of the jungle. Charizard had already seen him, as he was swooping down to greet him.

"Link!" he said and he seemed very glad to see his friend again. "Thank Entei, you're all right! The Kongs and I were already fearing the worst… well, the Kongs did, not me! I knew you'd be a tough little guy… after all, you beat Gohma, didn't you?"

"Good to see you again, Charizard!" Link said. "But what happened here? Where are the others… and did you know that the Twilight is approaching the island?"

"I know," his dragon friend said darkly. "And the Kongs are already preparing to leave. They all are very sad that they have to go, but Cranky said that it's better to flee than to become a victim of the darkness."

"He's right," Link nodded. "But now let's go back to the others."

"It'll be much quicker if we flew," Charizard said. "The sooner you get used to it, the better."

So he let climb Link on his broad back and flapped his wings.

"Hang on!" he shouted as he propelled his body up into the air.

It was a very exciting experience for Link, who had never flown before in his life. Within minutes, they were back at the tree house, where DK was busy carrying several pieces of furniture out of the house.

He put a heavy chest down to the floor just as Charizard landed nearby. "Link," he said. "Hey, good to see you again, buddy! We almost feared you wouldn't return…"

"But why?" Link wondered. "I only walked through the gates, had a short talk with one of the Flat People and came back… well, okay, I took a little nap afterwards… but that couldn't have lasted much longer than a few minutes… right?"

"A few minutes?" DK laughed. "Link, while you were gone, three whole days have passed. I almost wanted to go after you, had Cranky not told me that most visitors of the Flat Zone stayed at least two days in there."

"Three days?" Link murmured. He shook his head. "No, it couldn't have been this long."

"Maybe time has a different meaning in the Flat Zone," Cranky said as he came walking outside, leaning on his cane. He gave Link a friendly smirk. "So you're back, eh boy? So, how was it? Did you get through all of the gates?"

"I did," Link nodded. "I reached the Flat Zone and I talked to one of the Flat People. Believe it or not, but his name was 'Game & Watch'."

And Link told Charizard and the Kongs everything Game & Watch had told him while he had was in the Flat Zone.

"And that's everything there is to it," Link finally said. "That place is called the Flat Zone because everyone and everything that is in there is only two-dimensional… myself included, for the duration of my visit."

Cranky looked at him sadly. "You mean, everything in there WAS two-dimensional." He sighed deeply and looked at the floor. "It was all for nothing…" he murmured. "My research… my results… nobody will be interested in it anymore, now that the Flat Zone is gone…"

DK felt pity with his grandfather. "Poor old Cranky…" he said and patted the old ape's backside. "Poor old Cranky, you'll find something else!"

"Boy!" Cranky shouted angrily. "I am not a 'poor old Cranky', but a person who commands respect, got it?" Fuming, the old ape walked back into the house.

DK shook his head. "He's just upset, that's all. Given a few months or years, he will get over it and find another way to keep himself busy."

"What are you going to do now?" Link asked.

DK shrugged. "Well, we have to find some other place to live, right? We can still hope that you'll find a way to get rid of the Twilight, so that one day, we can come back here… but until then, we have to leave." He sighed. "Well then, the two of you better get going… the sooner you find a way to the borders of Nintendopia, the better for us all."

Link didn't want to leave DK and the other Kongs behind like that, but he knew he couldn't do anything to help them. So he just patted his friend's broad back and said: "Okay, we're off then. Take care of yourself and that stubborn Cranky, you hear me?"

"You bet I will!" DK grinned as he gave his friends the thumbs up. "And good luck on your little quest!"

Just shortly afterwards, Link and Charizard were already flying across the wide ocean, while the Kongs were packing their things on a huge raft they had built.

And Donkey Kong was right: Cranky would find something else he could research, and he would become a very famous ape because of his research.

But that's a different story!


	11. The Four Legendary Birds

Strong winds were blowing all around Link and his flying friend as they flew over the ocean, the massive waves below them crashing into each other.

He never knew flying on the back of a flying Pokémon would have been this exciting, but at the same time, he was afraid that the strong winds would blow off his hat.

It was almost five hours ago since they had left Kongo Island, behind, and yet they still hadn't found anything. Link figured that if they would simply fly in one direction, they would have found Nintendopia's borders sooner or later, but nothing like that happened.

Link really didn't know that their world was this big.

Charizard must have thought something similar, for he turned around his head after some time and shouted: "Link, do you really think it's a good idea to keep on flying like that?"

"What else should we do?" Link shouted back. "We have to find this world beyond the borders of Nintendopia, or else our Queen won't be saved."

"I know that, but still, don't you think we should ask someone who really knows in which direction the closest border is situated? Maybe we should fly back to the Palace in the Sky and tell the Queen about what we found out, maybe then she can point us into the right direction."

"But what if we don't have the time for this?" Link asked. "You know that the Twilight spreads while we are talking."

"But think about it," Charizard answered. "What if we don't find the borders in this direction we're taking? Maybe it would be quicker to fly back, ask for directions and then fly straightly to where we know we must head to."

Those words made Link muse about his decision to keep on flying in this direction. What if Charizard was right? What if they had been flying into the wrong direction from the very beginning?

"Oh, all right!" he finally sighed in defeat. "But let's keep on flying for another hour, and if we haven't found anything by then, we'll head back."

"Okay," Charizard nodded. "One more hour!"

But that hour would prove to be too much.

The two of them hadn't noticed that the sky in the distance was getting darker by the minute. In the East, a powerful storm accompanied by a massive downpour. In the West, thunder was crackling down from the skies. From the South, a searing heat wave was approaching. And from the North, a chilly breeze was blowing snowflakes and icy winds into their directions.

"Seems like a storm is brewing," Charizard grumbled after he finally saw the huge clouds in front of them. "Maybe we should seek shelter…"

"Let's not waste any more time," Link said. "We'll fly through those clouds quickly and it'll be over soon."

"I'm afraid not," Charizard said with a frown. "I'm starting to guess who might be responsible for this weather, and if I'm right, this is something we should take very seriously."

"Why?" Link wondered. "What could be so terrible?"

"I fear that the four legendary bird Pokémon are approaching us, and it looks like they want to have one of their infamous battles right here. I've heard about them, and if what they say is true, than they will try to beat each other until they grow tired of it and try it again some other time. There is no escape if we get in the middle of such a fight!"

"Well, couldn't we just fly high enough so they can't reach us?" Link suggested.

But Charizard shook his head. "I seriously doubt it, Link! And by the way, there is no place where we could land and seek shelter. Look below, there's nothing but the wide ocean beneath us."

"Then we have no other choice," Link said grimly. "We have to face them. Besides, I wanted to ask them a question anyways."

Charizard's eyes widened with terror. "Talk to them? Are you crazy? They won't listen to you! And even if you manage to catch their attention for a while, they will be at each other's throats in a matter of minutes again."

"They are coming from the four cardinal points, right? So who could we better ask for where Nintendopia's borders are situated than those four? What are their names?"

Charizard's voice was getting very grumbly when he responded: "From the North comes Articuno, Legendary Bird of Ice. From the West comes Zapdos, Legendary Bird of Thunder. From the South comes Moltres, Legendary Bird of Fire. And from the East comes Lugia, Legendary Bird of the Sea. But you, Link, can't be serious! Talking to the birds in the middle of their fight… you crazy little boy…"

By now, fleeing was no longer an option. Within several minutes, the legendary birds were upon them, firing at each other with their respective elemental attacks. Articuno was shooting beams of ice. Zapdos was bombarding the others with bolts of lightning. Moltres tried to singe their feathers with a fire breath that was at least twice as hot as Charizard's. Lugia was creating tornados that were throwing the other birds and Charizard around as if they were nothing but paper planes.

Link gritted his teeth as he clung to Charizard's body. This maelstrom of elements was more than a normal person could handle. There was only one way he could get out of this.

He winced when Articuno flapped his wings and caused an icy blizzard to come his way. He fumbled around with his backpack, and finally, managed to yank out the Star Rod.

He raised it high above his head and yelled as loud as he could: "IN THE NAME OF THE QUEEN, STOP!"

Almost immediately, the four birds shut their beaks and stopped their attacks. The air all around them was getting much calmer as they gently hovered all around Link and his Pokémon friend.

While Charizard didn't believe his eyes, he still didn't have enough trust in the birds, so he mumbled quietly: "Hurry up and ask them already, so we can get out of here!"

Link nodded and raised his voice: "I'm looking for the borders of Nintendopia! Do you know where they are? Articuno, what about you?"

"There are no borders in the North," Articuno replied.

"Zapdos, do you know them?" Link asked.

"They aren't in the West," the thunderbird squawked.

"Moltres, can you help me out?"

"In all of my life, I have never seen the borders of Nintendopia in the South," he said in a gruff voice, while his fires were crackling around him.

"Lugia, what about you?"

"No borders in the East," the last of the legendary birds answered.

And as if they were one person, they asked him at once: "Who are you that you don't know that Nintendopia is endless and has no borders?"

Link was shocked. He never had expected anything like this. How should he know that Nintendopia really had no borders? Where should he search for the world Game & Watch told him about?

He almost didn't notice that the birds have started their battle anew. Powerful winds were blowing them around while Charizard had to dodge fire, ice and lightning.

"Hold on!" Charizard roared. "I'll try to get us out of here!"

Link tried to, but the rain and snow had made the fiery dragon's neck and shoulders very slippery, so Link had a hard time not to fall off. And when Charizard had to make a sharp turn to dodge an incoming thunder bolt, he slipped off… and fell down into the raging sea.

----

Pit winced. He had tried to steer Charizard through the storm, but it just was way too difficult. Hopefully that wasn't the end… he really didn't feel like replaying everything since Link had talked with Mr. Game & Watch, for that was the last time he had saved.

He was very relieved when the next image showed Link being washed up on some unknown shore.

Well, maybe that was just part of the game, and every player would have been thrown off Charizard's back at that point. It was not the first time in game history that a player was forced to take a certain route…

He looked out of his window and realized it was slowly getting dark. But he was far too excited by the game, he just couldn't stop playing now. Besides, he was dying to know what would happen to Link now…

----

Link groaned when he got up from the sand he was lying in. Strangely enough, this sand had an unnatural, dark color. And when he looked around, he noticed that everything around here was very gloomy and dark. He could barely see any plants growing around… and the sky… where was the sun?

He then realized what was going on: He had entered the Twilight! It wasn't nearly as black as the walls he had seen in Forever Forest and later, on Kongo Island, but he realized the dark clouds that were hovering over this strange land. It was entirely covered in Twilight.

Suddenly, he remembered his companion and looked skywards.

"Charizard!" he yelled. "Where are you? Hey! I'm down here!"

But he got no response. And he also couldn't find a single trace of his Pokémon friend.

Suddenly, a strange feeling was spreading through his body. He yelled when a sharp pain was jolting through his limbs, and he fell down to the ground again.

He looked at his shaking hands with horror. "What… what's happening… to… me…?"

He cried out when another wave of agony threw him down. His hands… were they changing shape? And did he see hairs growing on them?

Suddenly, the intense pain made him throw back his head and he let out a loud yell, which suddenly turned into the howl of a wild animal.

He breathed hardly and tried to drag his body away from the shore. But something was odd… his limbs were feeling all wrong.

In the end, he was able to make it to a small river that was flowing nearby. But when he looked into the murky waters, he got the shock of his life.

Staring back at him was the image of a fierce-looking, black-furred wolf.


	12. The Palace of Twilight

Link was walking through the dark shadows of this surreal land, always staying in the shadows.

He had two good reason for doing so: For one, he knew that most people wouldn't be too hospitable towards a big, black wolf as he was now. Besides, as long as he didn't know where he was, he'd rather avoid contact with the locals.

He was getting used to having four legs pretty quick. He still wondered why he had turned into a wolf instead of a restless spirit or a vicious creature. He still remembered what happened to the giant plant, Flaahgra…

He also wondered what he should do now. He didn't know where he was and how far away from the Palace in the Sky he was. If at least Charizard would be with him, then they could leave the Twilight behind them pretty quickly.

After some time, he noticed what looked like an old brick road which led through the monotony of the barren wasteland he was walking through. Maybe this road would lead towards a town or village?

Before he could decide if he should follow this road into any direction, he heard some strange noises approaching from his left.

He decided not to show himself for now and quickly hid behind some boulders next to the road. Then he waited.

He didn't have to wait for a very long time before they were coming out of the mists… a long procession of sinister-looking, black creatures. They had long, spindly limbs and disgusting tentacles that were growing from underneath the masks that were covering their faces. Their bodies were also covered with strange, glowing symbols.

They were giving off several growling and howling noises. Link's fur was bristling when he heard their unnatural sounding voices. He was glad that they didn't know he was there, for he wasn't really looking forward to meet them.

Suddenly, he noticed the small figure that was hovering above the bigger creatures. The tiny being didn't look as scary as the black monsters, but when he took a good look at its face, he saw the manic look in its eyes.

The small, floating imp looked across the barren lands with a sinister sneer.

"Do you see that, my friends?" it murmured in a female voice. "The Twilight… it's so beautiful… to an extent, I am rather satisfied with what that traitor did to our homelands…"

She then snarled and her face turned into a horrible grimace. "But I'll never forgive him… for what he did to me! Cursing his own people like this… trapping us in the very same Twilight we wanted to cover all of this world with… and I…" She looked down at her body with disgust. "I have to wear this… disfigured, impish form until the Twilight dissipates… and that won't happen. Nooo, never… I know what is needed to save Nintendopia from the Twilight… And nobody will be able to bring it to the Queen in time!"

She let out an evil cackle. "In a way, I have to thank the traitor… thanks to him, all of Nintendopia will be covered by those dark clouds… and my revenge on the Queen will be complete! So let's keep going my friends, maybe one day we will find a way to get back our old bodies… and then I will rule over Nintendopia as its rightful regent!"

The female imp let out a sinister cackle as she and her horde of black creatures were following the brick road. After some time, they disappeared behind the nearest hill.

Link came out of his hiding place. He growled angrily when he realized that this creature was the one who was responsible for everything that happened to Nintendopia and the Queen. But now she was trapped within the Twilight as well… so that means somebody else must have tricked her somehow…

For now, he decided not to follow the black monsters. Instead, he wanted to find out where they came from. Maybe then he would find out more…

----

"Link!" Charizard roared as he flew over the ocean. "Link, can you hear me? Where are you?"

He had been trying to find his little friend for about an hour, but he still could not find a single trace of him. The battle of the Legendary Birds was already over, and they have vanished in their respective cardinal directions.

Charizard was getting more and more worried about his Hylian friend. He knew that nobody could swim for such a long time, and even with the Star Rod, his chances of survival would be slim if he lost consciousness while falling down into the sea.

Then the Fire Pokémon saw something shiny on the ocean's floor, something that caught his attention. The way it shimmered… it looked pretty familiar to him. Could that be…?

He already wanted to dive into the water when he thought of the dire consequences the cold water would have on his body. As a Fire Pokémon, he was very weak against any sort of water, and if the flame on his tail would be extinguished, he would die in a matter of seconds.

Still, if the Star Rod was down there, there was still a slight chance he could survive…

He decided to risk it. He dove right into the water, and even though the feeling of the water all around him came like a shock, he kept on swimming. When he felt how his tail flame got extinguished, he was growing weaker and weaker.

But then he had reached the spark of light at the bottom of the sea. It was indeed the Star Rod… but Link was nowhere close by.

He felt how his strength was leaving his body, so he clutched the Star Rod tightly to his body and focussed on one single wish:

'I wish I would be up in the air again, dry and with the flame on my tail burning!'

As soon as he thought that, everything around him went dark for a while. When he could see again… he saw that his strong wings were once again carrying him across the sea, and with his tail flame burning hot and bright, he felt as strong as ever.

He looked down at the Star Rod in his claws and thanked the goddess that she gave such a precious gift to Link.

But now he had to find Link quickly, if it wasn't already too late…

----

Link walked through the creaky iron gate and stared up at the huge palace that was towering in front of him. Gaping chasms were surrounding the immense building, and dark, bird-like creatures were circling its pinnacles.

'This must be it…' Link thought to himself. 'Those monsters must have come from this palace… which makes this place the origin of the Twilight.'

So he decided to call it the 'Palace of Twilight'.

The front door was wide open, so he just entered. No guards were around, and no other people. But also no monsters. Just wide, long and empty corridors and halls.

Link tried to imagine what kind of tribe could be interested with covering all of Nintendopia with darkness…and how they could have ended up as prisoners of the Twilight themselves.

He was hoping to find a place where he could investigate, to look into some books or writings, to know more about those people… but he found nothing.

Just as he thought there would be nothing in here but empty hallways, he heard a strange groan coming from a chamber he hadn't been in yet.

It almost sounded like the voice of a human… but also distorted, in a bizarre way. Finally, he entered a huge chamber, which was once again empty… except for the big throne standing on the other side of the rooms. It was covered with the same strange, glowing runes as the bodies of the imp and the monsters… and sitting on it was a tall, spindly figure, dressed in wide robes.

An ornate helmet was lying on the ground, and heavy iron rings were embedded into the floor. Strong chains were bounding the strange figure to its place.

The person sitting on the throne looked up with a groan. It was a man, a spindly man with a flat nose and a very pale face. Maybe this was what the tribe of this land looked like before the Twilight had turned them into monsters.

But if that was true, why wasn't this man transformed?

"A visitor…?" the man murmured with wide eyes. He then grinned. "A dark animal of the night, here to see me in my last hours? Where did you come from, my four-legged friend?"

"I am not your friend," Link grumbled, surprised that he could still speak as a wolf. "I just came here by accident, and I was hoping to find someone in here."

"Well, I'd say you DID find someone," the stranger said in his gurgling voice. "And what do you want to do now, little wolf?"

Link sighed. "I don't know… he looked up at the giggling man. "Who are you?"

"I… am Zant!" the man proclaimed proudly as he stood up as far as the chains would allow him. "King of the Twilight… and rightful ruler of the Twili!"

"Looks like you're not much of a king if you're chained to your own throne," Link growled. "The Twili… are those the black creatures I have seen in front of the palace?"

"Indeed," Zant nodded with a dreamy expression. "As we are the creator of the Twilight, we are safe from its devastating effects… but only as long as we are exposed to the light of the Sols on a regular base."

"Sols?" Link asked.

Zant gestured at the two shining orbs that were hanging from the walls. "Our only source of power here in the Twilight Realm," Zant explained. "Originally, their light was shining throughout all of this palace and protected the other Twili from the Twilight. But then SHE had to ruin everything…" he grumbled.

"She?" Link wondered. "She who?"

"Midna…" Zant spat in a voice, filled with hate. "The Twilight Princess… she refused to accept me as the rightful ruler of the Twili. She wanted to have the throne for herself… but I couldn't let her do that." He giggled maniacally and hopped around in front of the throne like a madman. "So I took the Sols and locked them into the throne room, so that only I would be blessed with their light. The Twilight cursed Midna and her followers… turning them into monsters and her into a tiny imp! But she wouldn't allow me to savor my victory… even though she couldn't enter this room, she cursed me, so I would be trapped, chained forever to this very throne I have sought…"

By now Zant was crouching in front of his throne and pounded the floor with his fists. "Why? Why couldn't she leave me my realm? I would have been the regent of all Nintendopia… and now… I am the ruler of nothing!"

Link started to realize that this guy was nothing but one big nut case.

"Well, looks like both you and Midna are now trapped," he said.

Zant giggled again. "Oh, maybe I am… but that doesn't matter… as long as I know Midna will be forever cursed to stay in her current form. The Queen will die… and all of Nintendopia will forever be covered with the dark clouds of darkness. Knowing this, I shall wait for my own death gladly…"

"But do you think the Queen would just die like that?" Link asked. "Don't you think she would send someone to find out who's behind all of this?"

"Oh, of course!" Zant grinned gleefully. "I also know that she already sent out a young man on a special mission, and that man was trying to find out a way to break the curse Midna has planted upon the Queen, which will slowly kill her… but I also know that he will never be able to find the cure in time! No, no… just before Midna betrayed me, some of our spies found out that he got lost in the Desert of Doubt… they followed his trail to the huge canyon in which the Spider Queen Gohma was living…"

The King of Twilight let out a maniacal laugh. "Gohma has never let anybody who entered her domain leave alive… surely he must be dead by now! And even if he somehow managed to escape from her clutches, and even if he found a way out of the desert… he would never find the cure and bring it to the Queen in time! Never! Bwahahahahahahah!"

Link growled at the usurper angrily. Zant gave him an annoyed look. "What's wrong, little wolf? Did I say something that upset you?"

"This… hero who wanted to save the Queen…" Link snarled. "Do you know his name?"

"Oh yes!" Zant smirked. "He was known as Link, and he came from a village called Ordon…"

"I'm the one!" Link barked. "I am Link!"

Zant looked at him, completely baffled. He then lowered his head. Link's sharp ears could hear a strange sound coming out of his throat. After a moment, he realized that Zant was giggling. And then the usurper threw back his head and laughed insanely.

But then, all of a sudden, he was still… and his body fell back onto the throne.

He was dead.

Link carefully approached the throne with the immobile villain. He nudged Zant's arm with the long sleeve… it really seemed as if the Twili traitor had died.

Satisfied, Link turned around to leave… but then his paw stepped on a floor tile that was jutting out of the floor just a tiny bit.

A hidden hatch on the front side of the throne opened, and a hideous, glowing hand came shooting out of it, grabbing the surprised wolf and holding him in its fierce grasp.

Link gasped when he felt how the powerful grasp of the hand was getting tighter and tighter… it was getting hard to breathe.

Even in his death, the Hand of Zant had managed to capture the enemies of its master!


	13. The Palace in the Sky

The very instant Charizard saw the shores of the Twilight Realm, he was relieved to finally see land. On the other hand, as soon as he recognized the Twilight that was already covering most of the continent, he wondered if he should turn around and flee.

But when he came closer to the dark clouds, he noticed how the Star Rod he was still clutching in his claws was giving off a gentle light which drove the Twilight away.

Curiously, Charizard flew a bit closer towards the darkness, and yet again, it was shoved back by the light of the Star Rod.

It wouldn't be enough to cleanse all of the continent from the darkness, let alone all of Nintendopia, he already saw that, because the Twilight slowly drifted back as soon as the Star Rod was moved to another position. But if Link was anywhere in that land of darkness, he could use the Star Rod to find him.

Carefully, the flying Pokémon soared across the empty Twilight Realm while the light he was carrying left gaps behind in the darkness. When he finally found the Palace of Twilight, he had some feeling coming from his guts that told him Link would be in there.

Without hesitation, he descended until he landed in front of the palace's front gates.

----

Meanwhile, Link had given up any hope that he would escape this cursed land anytime. The glowing hand was still holding him tightly in a firm grasp. He knew he would die in here from starvation and dehydration, just like the insane Twilight King Zant.

He was also afraid that he would become just as insane as the usurper himself while being trapped in this darkness, trapped in a body that wasn't his…

So he feared that he was finally getting delirious when out of the darkness, a bright light of hope was approaching him, especially when it turned out to be his friend Charizard.

"Cha… Charizard…" he muttered.

Charizard frowned when he saw the black wolf that was trapped by the ghastly hand. "How do you know my name?" he wondered.

"Charizard…" Link groaned when he realized that this wasn't a hallucination. "Please… get me out of here!"

Charizard suspiciously looked into the trapped animal's eyes. If that was a trap…

In the end, he decided that as the current holder of the Star Rod, he shouldn't distrust any resident of Nintendopia just because they looked like creatures of the darkness.

"I'll handle this," he said and stepped forth. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there in no time!"

He was very surprised when he came closer and the light of the Star Rod seemed to engulf the whole body of the black-furred wolf. The fur retracted into its body, as did its tail and the long muzzle. He was very surprised when in the end, he saw his friend Link in the clutches of the hand.

"Link?" he shouted. "That was you? But how…?"

"The Twilight…" Link murmured. "It changed me… but don't ask me why I didn't turn into a mindless monster like that plant I told you about… but never mind that now, get me out of here!"

"Oh, right! Give me a minute…"

He walked closer to the Hand of Zant and tried pressing the fingers apart. With a strained growl, he managed to force apart one of the glowing fingers, than another one. Finally, Link was free and fell down to the floor with a relieved sigh.

Charizard looked over to the dead body of Zant. "Link, what about…?"

"He's dead!" Link explained. "Thank Farore that you managed to find me, as well as the Star Rod! Quick, let's get out of here!"

"Okay," Charizard nodded. "Climb aboard!"

And shortly afterwards, Link was once again sitting on Charizard's broad back while they left the kingdom of Twilight behind.

----

Once again, they were soaring through the sky.

But this time, there was barely anything left below them, no land that wasn't covered by the Twilight, no kingdom that was spared by Midna's and Zant's diabolical plan.

Only one tiny glimpse of light was guiding them through the darkness, and that was the light coming from the Palace in the Sky, where the Queen was residing.

Without the light of the Star Rod, both Link and his flying friend would have easily fallen victim to the Twilight that was covering almost every part of Nintendopia by now. They knew that if the Queen herself didn't have a solution, everything was lost.

Before they reached their goal, however, Charizard spoke to his friend in his grumbling voice: "Link?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever seen her in your life?"

"Who?" Link asked. "The Queen?"

When Charizard nodded, he shook his head. "No, can't say I have. All of my life had been limited to farmwork and fighting off the creatures of the woods."

"I have seen her once," Charizard said with a sigh. "A very long time ago, when I still was a little Charmander… You see, I was still a silly young Pokémon with too many stupid ideas in my little hothead." He chuckled. "I had been envious of the burning sun, because I wanted to be the most powerful fire creature in the world. In my juvenile stubbornness, I planned to challenge the sun to a duel. So I climbed up the highest mountain in all of Nintendopia… Mt. Olympus in Angel Land."

Charizard shook his head. "Even when I reached the top, I still didn't come even close to the sun. But just as I was going to collapse on the ground in disappointment and cry, I saw the Palace of the Sky floating nearby, in the light of the setting sun… and there I could see her, standing in front of her palace's front gate, a corona of light surrounding her beautiful figure, as she smiled down on me." He sighed. "From that day on, I was a different Pokémon…"

Link smirked when he imagined the situation Charizard had just told him. "And what about your dream? Did you ever plan to duel the sun again?"

"No, of course not!" Charizard laughed. "But just recently, I heard that there were several countries in Nintendopia that have developed an astounding level of technology…"

Link frowned. "I've heard several tales about machines that could fly through the air just like a bird, or a flying Pokémon such as you… but I never could imagine how that was possible. But, who knows? Nayru has given the people of Nintendopia wisdom, so maybe such machines do exist…"

"Yes, but you haven't even heard the most fantastic stuff yet… somebody once told me that there are actually machines that allow the people who built them to fly up to the stars."

"You're kidding, right?" Link gasped. "Nobody can fly as high as the stars!"

"Well, I don't know…" Charizard shrugged. "But I told myself, if that really is possible, I'm gonna fly along in such a machine some time and fly as close to the sun as possible… so I can see how it looks like from close by. In a sense, part of my childhood dream would be fulfilled…"

"You have some crazy ideas, Charizard!" Link chuckled.

Charizard was going to reply something else, but then he looked forward and murmured: "Link… take a look at that…"

Link did so and stared in awe at the shining white palace that was floating in front of them. It was a majestic building, looking like an ancient temple, and it was filled with and surrounded by a shining aura of soothing light. It was driving the dark clouds that surrounded it away and looked like a final bastion of the light against the darkness.

"The Palace in the Sky…" Link murmured.

Charizard headed directly towards the huge platform in front of the palace. His paws slipped on the smooth floor and he skidded through the towering pillars of white marble, until he came to a stop in front of the huge gates.

Link climbed off his friend's back, and Charizard groaned with relief. The long flight had been very tiresome.

Link noticed that the Twilight wasn't coming near the palace. It was giving off the very same aura of light as the Star Rod.

"Link…" Charizard sighed. "Just leave me here… I don't think I have the strength left to come along with you… I'm just gonna wait here, okay?"

"Yeah, okay!" Link nodded. He doubted that Charizard was in danger, here in front of the palace gates. He still was wondering why nobody was here to welcome them.

He took the Star Rod and walked up the immense stairway that was leading to the gates. Before he entered, he looked back at Charizard, who gave him a tired smile. He then went inside.

As Link was walking through the hallowed halls of the palace, he once again noticed that nobody was here. No palace guards, no servants, nobody that would welcome him and lead him to the Queen's chambers.

Still, he knew where he had to go. The Star Rod was pointing into the right direction and lead him through the complex building.

Finally, he reached a pair of ornate doors. The door handles looked like two angelic wings. Link opened the door and entered.

The Queen was waiting for him, lying on a soft bed of velvet and silk. Her green hair was cascading down her shoulders and her white robes were almost shining in the aura of light the goddess of Nintendopia was giving off.

Still, in all her glory, Link could see that she was sick. Her skin was very pale, and it was as if some invisible shadows were oppressing her light.

Not being able to say anything at all, Link approached the Queen's bed. Then he threw himself down on the floor in front of her. The Star Rod fell to the ground with a clatter.

"My Queen!" he gasped. "I'm so sorry! I tried so hard to find someone who could cure you from your illness, but I… I failed! Now the Twilight has covered all of your world and I can't go on… forgive me!"

"Please, stand up, dear Link!" the Queen said in a gentle voice that sounded like thousands of clear bells. Link obeyed.

She looked closely at him. "Something… about you has changed. It's in your eyes… they are fiercer now… like the eyes of a wild animal… but noble!"

Link didn't know what to say. By now, all of Nintendopia was engulfed by the darkness… and she was smiling at him. Did she realize what was going on outside her palace?

"My… my Queen…" he said. "The Twili… their plan… why did they do this to us?"

A veil of sadness appeared on her angelic face. "You know… Princess Midna had once been a very good friend of mine. Together with other rulers of Nintendopia, we tried to maintain peace all around the world. But… Midna's people… they always had to suffer from the dark country they were living in. The Twilight… it's not actually a creation of their sorcerers, but in fact a power that is as old as Nintendopia itself… it is composed of souls, you know?"

"What?" Link murmured. "Souls…?"

"Yes," the Queen nodded. "Dark, corrupted souls from humans that had always seen our world as a world of fairy tales and fantasy… but nothing more! They refused to accept the wonders of Nintendopia and instead used our magnificent world to their benefit. Greed and mistrust was corrupting their minds, and the only thing that kept the Twilight from spreading was the influence of the children that were acquiring the games."

"G… games?" Link wondered. "What games?"

"The games that the people from that world can use to see our world. Their joy and happiness when they see the fantastic wonders is filling our world with light, and that keeps the Twilight from spreading. But, you know… the Twilight Realm has always been the place where the corrupted souls from the other world spread into Nintendopia, turning into the Twilight. Affected by the Twilight, the hearts of the Twili succumbed to the hatred and envy they always had felt when looking upon the light-filled continents of the other races."

She sighed. "I should have been able to predict this… but I didn't want to believe that my dear friend Midna has been turned into a creature of darkness. Only when I was taken sick and heard about the Twilight spreading across all parts of Nintendopia, I realized what was going on. So I sent Mario to you with the Star Rod to tell you about your mission. And now you're here…" She smiled at him.

"But… but my Queen!" Link protested. "I couldn't achieve nothing! I couldn't find a way to bring one of these humans to Nintendopia… and only they can save you."

"I know," she said. "When they find out my name and say it out aloud, we will be saved."

It took Link some time until he realized what that meant. "W-wait a second… you mean that this long journey, through Forever Forest, Torvus Bog, the Desert of Doubt, Kongo Island and the Flat Zone… that was all for nothing? You just could have told me what could cure you?"

"But my dear Link," the Queen smiled. "Don't you see… you already brought him with you. In the very instant you saw him in the Gameboy Screen Door… you took a part of him with you, and right now, he's listening to our conversation."

----

Pit's hands, which were still holding the controller, were shaking. That couldn't be true, could it? They couldn't possibly be speaking of him! All of this was just a game! A really impressive game, sure, but a game nonetheless!

But then he saw how the Queen was turning around her head just slightly… and she looked at him. He, Pit, the boy that nobody cared about, had been looked at by the goddess of Nintendopia! He shuddered in awe.

And when he looked back at her golden eyes, he knew that she had to be real. And if she was real, all of those other beings had to be real as well: Link, Charizard, Donkey Kong, Mario and Kirby… all of those characters he knew and loved from all those Nintendo games existed, in a faraway dimension that could be seen through the games that were being sold by the very people who only cared about profit and wealth.

But was that true? Were really all of the game creators greedy bastards? Was the Twilight created by all of their souls? Or could it be that there were others who cared about the games they made? Could it possibly be that they know about the creatures that inhabit the wonderful lands they have imagined?

Still, the Twilight was now covering all of Nintendopia, and there had to be a reason for this. And if those dark-hearted people were causing this darkness, maybe young children like himself could actually save Nintendopia and the Queen!

If he only knew what to do…

But there was one thing he knew: He couldn't possibly stop playing until he knew what would happen to this wonderful world and their inhabitants. He had to keep on playing until he could be sure that Link and the Queen were safe.

If he only knew what kind of dangerous adventures would await him, only because he made that decision…


	14. The Neverending Circle

„I... I brought him with me?" Link asked in confusion. "But if that is true, then… then why hasn't he shown himself to us? What's keeping him from appearing and saving our world?"

"Maybe he doesn't know what he should do…" the Queen said in a quiet voice. "Although it would be so easy… all he had to do would be to call out my true name."

"But… what if he doesn't know it?" Link wondered.

"He knows it…" the Queen whispered. "I've seen it in his eyes…"

----

"Maybe… maybe I should just try it…" Pit murmured and opened his mouth.

But then, he started to have doubts. 'What if they really meant somebody else? I'm pretty sure they are expecting someone to show up who looks like a real hero… not some little boy!'

He imagined what would happen it he would show up in the Palace in the Sky, how Link and the Queen would stare at him in disbelief. The Queen would shake her head when she realized that he was just a little wimp, and maybe Link would even laugh.

But should he really miss this chance?

----

"Perhaps he's just shy?" Link assumed. "Maybe he is too ashamed to stand in front of you."

"Ashamed?" the Queen wondered. "When we'll welcome him as our world's saviour? I really can't imagine it!"

They both waited for a while. Neither said anything. And nobody appeared.

The Queen let out a heavy sigh when she stood up from her bed. "I'm afraid he won't come…" she murmured. "We'll have to prepare for the worst and consider that we really are on our own in this battle."

"But… whatever could we do, without his help?" Link asked.

"There is still one thing I can do, one final resort I was hoping I would not have to make use of. I have to leave the palace…"

I'm gonna protect you," Link said at once, but the Queen shook her head.

"No, Link! You have done more than enough for me and Nintendopia. You shall rest and join your friend Charizard. Both of you will be taken care of, and as long as the Twilight can't enter my palace, you'll be safe."

"And what about you?"

The Queen smiled at him. "Don't worry! I'm not going to travel through the Twilight… and on top of that, the way I'm going to travel is the safest of all. Don't you worry about me… and now, sleep!"

And suddenly, Link felt how the lids of his eyes were getting heavy, and his body slumped down to the floor as he fell into a deep slumber.

In his dreams, he felt himself being carried to a calm and serene place, with twirling colors and soothing noises. He believed to see his friend Charizard lying next to him, and then, a huge fountain that was sparkling in all colors of the rainbow. He didn't know what this place was, he only knew that he was safe.

Meanwhile, the Queen picked up the Star Rod that was still lying on the ground and entered a round chamber next to her own room. In its middle, a half-spherical vehicle was floating on top of a big pedestal. A bright star was painted on its front.

The Queen entered the Star Chariot and sat down on the soft cushions.

"Bring me to the last sanctuary…" she said. "Bring me to Star Haven!"

And the Star Chariot slowly rose up into the air and flew out of a hatch in the palace's ceiling, following a shining road of stars that was leading the way up to where the stars were born: Star Haven!

----

The Queen entered the building. All around her, the walls were shining as bright as the light that was illuminating her own palace.

"I am here…" she said and walked to the middle of the room, where she put the Star Rod on top of a white dome.

All around here, the Seven Star Spirits were floating on top of the pillars and looked at her. The wise Eldstar, the motherly Mamar, the knowledgeable Skolar, the courageous Muskular, the sweet Misstar, the smart Klevar and the gentle Kalmar.

"We knew you'd come…" Eldstar said as he wriggled his bushy moustache with worry. "We saw the Star Chariot coming."

"But we're wishing it would have never come to this…" Klevar said with a sigh.

"I know," the Queen said. "And you also know I wouldn't ask you of this if there was no other way."

"You know what you are demanding, right?" Mamar asked. "We risk being trapped forever in an endless circle of repetition until the hero makes up his mind."

"Which may very well be never…" Muskular mumbled to himself.

"I know," the Queen spoke up. "But it the last chance we may have. You know the Twilight has covered all of Nintendopia… the only safe places are my palace and Star Haven, but given some time, even these last rays of light will be blacked out, and darkness will reign…"

"You really want to place all your hopes and all of Nintendopia's future… into the hands of this young boy?" Misstar asked.

The Queen nodded. "Yes! I've looked into his heart. And if there is somebody who can save us, it's him! It will be a big risk… but do you see another way?"

It took the Star Spirits a while before they replied. Finally, Kalmar sighed and said: "No…"

"Then please, do it!"

The Star Spirits started spinning on top of their pillars and focussed their powers. The Queen walked up to the white dome in the middle of the room and placed her right palm on the smooth surface. A shining light came pouring out of her hand and streamed into the dome and the Star Rod that was placed on its top. Finally, something happened… in front of her eyes, an image appeared… an image of a small game disk, with colorful letters on it.

And those letters read: SUPER SMASH BROS. – THE NEVERENDING GAME.

----

Pit gasped. Without letting go of his controller, he picked up the package of the game and read its title. How could the game appear within the game? That was unheard of!

But it was once again proof for him that everything that happened in there was real! He still wondered what could be so horrible that the Star Spirits hesitated to use it, if it meant to help Nintendopia…

----

A shining screen of moving images appeared above the small game disk. As if it was a window, the Queen saw the image of a young boy running through the rain, his clothes dirty and his forehead grazed. He then entered a small shop.

----

Could that be? Were they really talking about him? But why was he in the game? Why didn't the images show the real start of the game, the meeting of the four messengers?

But then he could hear the voice of Mr. Masuto Hando, and the very same words he had said to him earlier that day: 'I may just have the thing for you… it's a new game, fresh from the market! Well, officially, it's not even for sale yet, but I managed to acquire a copy from one of my distributors…'

----

And after Pit came home with the game, the Queen saw how it all started, how Kirby and the other messengers met in Forever Forest, how Mario brought the Star Rod to Link, and from then on, the screen showed every single part of Link's adventures:

He me the Bub-ulbs of Forever Forest, faced Flaahgra in Torvus Bog, tricked Gohma in the Desert of Doubt, met Charizard at the entrance of the Warp Zone, talked to the Kongs on Kongo Island, walked through the three gates until he entered the Flat Zone, talked to Mr. Game & Watch, flew across the ocean on Charizard's back… everything repeated itself.

----

Pit was able to follow it again, he saw how Link and Charizard got separated by the fighting Legendary Birds, how Link arrived in the Twilight Realm and got turned into a wolf, how Charizard found the Star Rod, Link talked to Zant, got saved by Charizard, how they flew back to the Palace in the Sky, talked to the Queen… and then the Queen entered the Star Chariot and went to the Star Haven.

And here, everything began anew. And Pit realized that it would never end, not as long as he would make a decision. The Twilight would not be able to cover all of Nintendopia with darkness, but they all would be trapped forever in this circle of repetition…

…unless he called out the true name of the Queen, the one true name!

He knew the name, he knew it… it was from that one game… the game with the goddess… and the little guy with the bow and wings… what was it again?

But he clearly remembered her name, he just had to say it, he just had to…

"PALUTENA!" he shouted. "I'M COMING!"

And then, several things happened at once.

----

The Star Rod started gleaming brighter than ever, until it was so bright that neither the Queen nor the Star Spirits themselves could see a thing. The Twilight that had been looming dangerously all around the Palace in the Sky got evaporated under the gleaming rays of the sun that suddenly appeared in the sky, and then…

----

A sucking feeling seemed to come from the television screen, as he felt how his entire body got sucked towards the bright light in front of him. Pit had only time to let out a cry of surprise, before he touched the screen and vanished.

Someone tapped softly against the door of his room. "Pit, honey?" his mother asked. "I heard some strange noises… are you all right?"

She carefully opened the door and… saw the title screen of a game she had never seen before. Well, it was not as if she knew the name of every game her son owned…

"Looks like he went to the bathroom again…" she murmured. "Oh well, as long as he gets to bed soon…"

She then walked over to the television set and the Wii that was standing next to it. She frowned.

"I told him he should switch that thing off after he's finished…" she murmured… and then she switched off the Wii, and then the TV.

Afterwards, she went downstairs, where her husband was already waiting for her to come to bed.


	15. Palutena's Gifts

Pit looked around. He could see nothing but whiteness all around him. It almost seemed like the emptiness of the Flat Zone, but the white light was much gentler and pleasing to the eyes.

"Where… where am I?" he murmured.

He could hear a slight chuckle coming from behind him. "You're here, in Nintendopia, my dear Pit!"

Pit turned around in surprise and saw the Queen standing in front of him, a beautiful sight with her green hair and her shining robe. She was looking better than when he saw her on the screen, when Link had talked to her.

"Palutena…" he said in awe. "You're… you're not sick anymore?"

Palutena shook her head and smiled. "No, I'm feeling fine now… thanks to you! The Twilight has lifted from our world and everything should be as it is supposed to be."

"But then… where are we now?" Pit wondered as he looked around.

"Why, this is the opposite of the Twilight… the light that is made from those who play our games and are filled with joy when they see the wonders Nintendopia has to offer. And you have just now crossed the borders between our worlds, so it is no wonder that the first thing you see is this light…"

"What will happen?" Pit asked. He was a bit afraid. "What about Link and Charizard, and the Star Spirits?"

"Relax, Pit! They are all fine! Because you found out my true name, remember? And I want you to make sure that Nintendopia will be fine. Travel around the world and see for yourself!"

Pit had the feeling he should say something else, but he didn't know what to say. Slowly, the bright light around them dimmed down, and he realized that they were standing in the middle of a huge forest, filled with hundreds of wonderful flowers, trees and many other plants. In the sky that was visible between the branches of the trees, he could see the moon and the stars.

"This forest is the welcoming place of all humans from your world," Palutena explained. "Only when the full moon is in the sky will the gates between the worlds open. And when you said my true name, Nintendopia welcomed you. Can you guess this forest's name, Pit?"

Pit looked at the huge trees that were towering around them. He saw a calm river that was reflecting the moonlight. And he saw the fireflies buzzing around the bushes. And that one tree in front of him… it almost seemed to smile at him! In which game did he see a similar forest?

Then he remembered… and even though the forest had been situated in the middle of a huge crater that was shaped like a tree itself, and was on a small island in the middle of the ocean, there was no doubt about it that this forest and the one he saw in that game were one and the same.

"Forest Haven…" he murmured and looked up at the ancient tree who looked so much like the big Deku Tree.

Palutena approached him with a smile and he averted his gaze in embarrassment.

"Pit, why won't you look at me?" she asked.

"Because… because I'm sure you have been waiting for a big hero, not me…" he murmured.

Palutena laughed. "But what makes a hero, Pit? Size? Maturity? Wisdom? No! It's only his heart!"

"But… but I'm just a little kid," he sighed. "How can I be the savior of Nintendopia? What will the others say when I step in front of them?"

"Well, if you are so bashful about it, I will give you a gift that will make them recognize you as my champion." And she made a wide gestured with her hands and spread a veil of light over Pit's small body.

And within seconds, his old, dirty clothes transformed, turning into garments that were almost as white as the shining robes of Palutena herself. His old shoes turned into a pair of fine sandals and golden bracelets appeared around his wrists.

And then the most miraculous thing happened: From his shoulders, a pair of white-feathered wings erupted, as white as those of a swan, giving the young boy an angelic appearance.

"From now on, you will be known as Pit, Hero of the Goddess Palutena!" the Queen said.

Pit looked at his new garments in awe and moved his new wings experimentally. He then knelt down in front of the goddess and bowed his head. "Palutena… thank you for these gifts! I will honor them every day I am in Nintendopia, I swear it!"

He waited for her reply, but she didn't say anything. And when he looked up again, he realized that she was gone.

"Palutena!" he shouted. "Where… where are you?"

He didn't understand why she had left him alone. Sure, she was the Queen and goddess of Nintendopia, but he felt as if she could have at least said goodbye before leaving.

But when he looked at the ground again, he saw something shiny lying on the ground. He let out a shout of surprise when he picked it up.

"The Star Rod…" he murmured. This had to be Palutena's last and biggest present for her new hero, as she clearly left it behind in his care.

And when he moved the Star Rod around to take a better look at it, it touched one of his golden bracelets. With a sudden flash, the legendary artifact turned into a ring of light that was wrapped around his left arm, hovering there just like the rings of Saturn. Maybe he could transport it that way without having to carrying it around all the time.

He sighed again and decided that he should probably get going if he didn't want to stay in this forest all the time. So he started walking. But after some time, as he followed the gentle river, he realized that there was a quicker way to travel for him…

He looked back at his white wings and grinned when he thought about what was going to happen. He swiftly climbed up on a big rock that was lying next to the river and spread both his arms and wings.

Then he jumped… and started beating his wings. And they carried him through the air like a bird. It was easier than he thought it would be, and he let out a whoop of joy when he flew circles around the trees.

Maneuvering through the forest was no problem, as Forest Haven wasn't as dense as Forever Forest or Torvus Bog – there was more than enough space for the little angel to fly.

Pit dove through the branches and circled over the pond. He flew straight up until he breached through the treetops. Once again, he let out a mighty yell, before he soared down again, landing gently on the branch of a high tree, high enough for him to look over the other trees.

He leaned back against the tree's trunk and sighed contently. The Star Rod and a pair of wings… he couldn't think of better gifts! And who knows, maybe he would see Palutena again, some time… after he had explored more of Nintendopia. There was so much to see, so many places to visit… he realized that the greatest adventure of his life was waiting for him.

But as for now, he would stay here for a while. It was late, and he was getting tired. Tomorrow, he would leave the forest behind and try to find the nearest town.

He prepared a small nest from leaves and twigs in which he lay down after it was done. Just before he fell asleep, he had to think about his parents back home. Would they miss him? Or was it like in those movies, where the hero was gone for what seemed like years, and he was actually just gone for a day?

He wished he could apologize to them that he left without having left a note behind. Then he turned around and soon afterwards, fell asleep.

----

When Pit awoke, he realized that it was still dark. But in the far distance, he saw how the sun was slowly starting to rise.

"Well, about time!" he grinned. "I almost thought daylight would never come in this forest."

He stood up and stretched his arms and wings. He couldn't wait to fly again… but at the same time, was a bit disappointed. Sure, flying was fun… but was it such a big adventure just to fly over all obstacles? Maybe he should walk for a while before making use of his wings again. He nodded. Yes, that's what he was going to do.

Spreading his wings, he slowly soared down the tree, until he touched the forest floor again. Link's adventures came to mind. He knew the green-clothed boy from Hyrule would never be able to fly through the air like him. He remembered clearly the hazardous areas he had to walk through, especially the Desert of Doubt.

Yes, walking through a hot desert would be a true challenge for a mighty hero. But it had to be a desert that was even bigger and hotter than Gohma's domain, a desert in which one would never know in which direction he had to travel, as it was just looking the same everywhere.

Part of Pit wished he would be able to cross such a desert, to prove that he could handle even such arduous situations.

Suddenly, something trickled down into his toga from above. Irritated, Pit brushed his hands through his hair and realized that some sand had fallen down on him.

He frowned. Sand from above? But there was nothing above him, except for the… trees?

He looked upwards, and what he saw was like a shock to him: The huge, majestic trees of Forest Haven were turning into dust and sand that was falling down all around him. And not just the trees: The flowers, the bushes, even the rocks were all slowly falling apart turning into the very sand that he had brushed from his head.

He yelped in surprise when a huge tree next to him broke in half. He quickly flew up into the air before the treetop came crashing down where he had been standing just seconds ago, bursting apart in a massive cloud of sand.

Pit decided to fly even higher until it was safe to come down again. And in the rays of the rising sun, he could realize that the whole forest was turning into a desert, a single huge desert that was spreading out into all directions, as far as he could see. Only a few rocks had survived the horrible transformation, and several plants must have turned into the pale, yellow cacti he could see standing around here and there. The river was completely evaporated in the heat of the sun.

He gasped when he realized where he had seen a desert like this before… the endless dunes of sand, the yellow cacti and the tiny sandstorms he could see twirling around in the distance…

"This… is Dry Dry Desert…" he murmured.

After the last bush had turned into sand, Pit flew down again, landing on a dune.

'Does this make any sense?' he wondered. 'In the games, Dry Dry Desert was close to the Mushroom Kingdom… while Forest Haven was on an island in the middle of the Great Sea…'

But then again, there was no mention within the games that all of these places were part of one single world, which was inhabited by all kinds of creatures, characters from all kinds of Nintendo games.

Maybe this Nintendopia wasn't quite like the games… maybe the games were just based on people and places that existed within Nintendopia? Once again, Pit wondered how much the creators of the game really knew about this wondrous world…

But for now, he had other worries. He had a desert to cross... and he doubted that in this searing heat, his wings would carry him far. Just the thought of getting into a sandstorm with his fragile wings was making him feel queasy…

But if this desert was like Dry Dry Desert from the game, maybe there was an oasis somewhere? And maybe the edge of the desert wasn't too far away? Besides, he still had the Star Rod in his possession, so he could always make use of his powers when he was in trouble.

So Pit started walking again, confident that he would do just fine… after all, he was Palutena's champion!

The sun was turning into a blazing fireball that was sending rays of death down onto Pit's body. Not too long after he had started walking, he was starting to feel the effects of the heat. Sweat was pouring down his forehead and his legs were growing tired by the second. He was very thirsty. But he concentrated on going onwards, without straining his body too much.

Maybe there have been others that had crossed this desert before him, but he wondered if those people had told others about it. And would he be able to cross the desert to tell about it?

Pit knew he didn't have to worry about that. Palutena wouldn't have left him behind to die! And while crossing a desert was clearly dangerous, it wasn't really something that turn someone into a hero… Instead, he would rather face a dangerous beast, yes, one of the most dangerous creatures in Nintendopia! He would stare into its eyes, and then…

Before he could finish that thought, he heard a loud roar coming from behind the dunes. Startled, he quickly flew up on top of the dune in front of them… and what he saw was making him gasp in surprise.

Something resembling a blazing comet was running… no, jumping… or was it flying…across the desert. It was a huge beast, a wild creature on four powerful legs that was surrounded by a corona of flames and a mane of wild fur that made it seem like some sort of monstrous lion. It was approaching him with huge leaps, and every time it made a leap, it created a small explosion of fire on the hot sand. Now Pit was glad that he wasn't in Forest Haven anymore… this creature would have easily burnt all of the trees down to ashes in a matter of seconds.

With a final roar, the creature landed on a dune that was opposite of his own. It stared at him with fierce, burning eyes and let out a deep growl. Although, the fire that had surrounded it earlier was now slowly dying down.

"I AM ENTEI!" the beast roared in its thunderous voice. "WHO HAS ENTERED MY DOMAIN?"


	16. Entei

„I am Pit," the little angel said bravely as he faced the roaring beast. "The Hero of Palutena!"

"And why are you here?" Entei grumbled. "Don't you know that my mere presence turns every living being around me to sand and ashes? That's the reason why there is nobody else living in this desert but me! How can you just stand there in the face of a raging inferno?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure nothing will happen to me," Pit said confidently.

The beast didn't say anything else. With another leap, it landed in the middle of the two dunes. Then it slowly trotted up to where Pit was standing. When it reached him, it lay down on the hot sand, lowering its head.

"Lord Pit," it said. "I am forever your servant!"

Pit certainly didn't expect that. "Why?" he wondered. "Why would a powerful being like you put yourself willingly into the service of a young boy like me?"

"Because you are the first one who came into this desert and didn't run away in a panic after seeing me," Entei sighed. "I don't blame them, though… the heat my body is giving off is enough to make a pot of water boil."

"But why don't I feel anything of that?" Pit wondered. "It is clearly hot, but I think that the sun is to blame for that…"

"That's because you carry the power of the Star Rod within you," Entei said, looking at the shining ring that was hovering around Pit's wrist. "You are under our Queen's protection. It you didn't have it, my presence would cause you unbearable pains."

Pit looked at the golden ring and whispered: "Thank you, Palutena…"

He then looked back at the fiery beast. "Say, can't you bring me to the edge of this desert?"

Entei shook his head. "My Lord, that is impossible for me!"

"Why?"

"Because everything around me would burn down to ashes and sand in a matter of seconds. I'm carrying the desert with me, you see? But I can take you to my palace, there I can give you food and water."

"That would be nice," Pit nodded.

Entei stood up. "Please climb on my back and hold on tight! I am a very fast runner, my lord!"

And Pit did as Entei told him. As soon as Entei started running, he was once again surrounded by a blazing aura of fire. But Pit was protected by the powers of the Star Rod.

Dashing through the desert on Entei's back was intoxicating for the little angel, and he let out a cry of excitement, which Entei replied to with a mighty roar.

When they finally came to a stop, they were standing in front of a tall stone tower.

"Please dismount, my lord! This is my palace… and my tomb! Welcome!"

Pit didn't know what the flaming beast meant when he said that, but he had no time to ask when Entei walked through the open entrance.

Entei led him to a big room which was illuminated by several torches on the wall. A huge pedestal was on the other side of the room, and two stone statues were placed upon there. They looked almost like Entei, but a bit different. The one on the right was much sleeker and the one on the left had sharp tusks like a saber-toothed tiger.

"This is the final resting place for us legendary Pokémon," Entei explained in a solemn voice. "These are my companions, Suicune and Raikou. Both of them have passed away a long time ago… and ever since that time, their statues were standing in this tower.

Pit approached the tall statues with an expression of awe. They were looking so real…

Entei looked out of a window. "My lord, it is getting dark and we don't have much time to talk. Please, be my guest for this night! You'll find everything you need upstairs... the stairs are through that door… And during the night… you might hear or see something that might… upset you. But please do not be afraid and wait until morning comes."

Pit nodded and walked to the entrance to the stairway and looked back around again before he walked up. Entei was lying in the middle of the two stone figures of his former companions, and if it wasn't for the color of his fur, Pit would have sworn that he was nothing else but a lifeless statue himself.

"Good night," he said and walked up to the second floor, where he found a nice chamber with a huge bed, several wardrobes and shelves. Another door led to a bathroom complete with a pool that was filled with warm water. On a table, a big bowl with fruits was standing, as well as a pot with a hot drink. He took a smell… it almost smelled like tea.

"Well, I'll certainly be able to have a good night's rest in here," he grinned before he sat down and enjoyed his first meal in Nintendopia. Later, he took a nice bath in the pool and just relaxed. It was much cooler here in the tower than outside.

Just as he wanted to prepare for bed, he heard a strange noise coming from downstairs. It almost sounded as if a huge stone slab was grinding against a stone floor. He knew that Entei told him he shouldn't worry, but he still decided to go down and look for his host.

"Entei?" he asked as he entered the huge room with the statues. "Is everything okay? I heard some strange noises and…"

He gasped when he took a closer look at Entei's body which was still lying in-between the statues… now as hard and grey as stone itself.

"No, that can't be…" Pit murmured as he quickly ran over to the four-legged body of the legendary Pokémon. "Entei…"

He touched Entei's face, but it was no use: It was hard and cold as stone, Entei had turned into a statue. Now Pit realized that those statues next to him weren't just statues… they had to be the real bodies of his old friends, turned into stone after their death.

Mourning over his new friend's death, Pit began to cry and leaned against the massive body of the petrified creature. With teary eyes, he walked over to the window and stared out at the endless desert.

But there was no desert anymore! Dry Dry Desert's grains of sand seemed to have turned into seeds, and the tall trees of Forest Haven were growing again. In a matter of seconds, the tower was surrounded by the beautiful forest, and the river was gently flowing around its walls.

But this time, Pit couldn't feel any joy when he looked at the majestic trees. Distraught, he went back to his petrified friend and curled up between his stone paws. Some time later, he fell asleep.

----

"My Lord…" the rumbling voice spoke up and woke Pit from his slumber. "Did you spend the entire night like this?"

Pit looked up in surprise and saw the gentle face of Entei looking down at him… alive and filled with color, no longer a lifeless statue.

He sighed with relief. "For a while, I thought… I thought you were going to die! And I was so sad, I… I think I started crying, and I just couldn't leave you alone."

Entei looked across the room, a thoughtful look on his face. "So you are not the only one who has ever been my guest, but also the only one who had ever mourned my death… I thank you, my lord!"

"So you DID die?" Pit asked.

Entei nodded. "Once, both of my friends shared the same fate as I. During the night, Suicune was roaming the wilderness of Forest Haven and Raikou and I had to stay here, turned to stone. But when morning came, Suicune would turn into a statue himself and I would awake from my slumber… only to be replaced by Suicune as soon as nightfall was coming."

"But what about Raikou?" Pit wondered.

Entei looked at the saber-toothed Pokémon. "He would roam the lands in the days of thunder, when powerful thunderstorms were covering this land, and you couldn't tell if it was day or night."

He sighed. "But now both of them have passed away, and only I am left, without any companion…"

"Wait a minute…" Pit said curiously. "If you only come to life when the others are turned to stone, how could they have been your companions?"

Entei chuckled. "Good point, my lord! But see, we could talk to each other in our dreams… and each night, when Suicune was away, I would tell Raikou about what happened in the desert. And on the rare occasion when Raikou was free to roam the wilderness, Suicune would tell me everything about the beauty of Forest Haven… I really miss these days…"

Pit realized how lonely Entei must be in this empty desert, not being able to leave it, and with both of his friends gone…

He decided that he would stay with the legendary fire Pokémon, at least for a while.

"My lord," Entei then said. "I am honored by your presence in my palace and by the tears you shed because of me… Because of that, and the fact that you are Palutena's emissary, I have a present for you. Please, follow me!"

And Entei led Pit down into the deepest chamber of his tower, where something resembling an altar was standing. A carving of Palutena was on the wall behind it, and lying on the altar was something that resembled a weapon…

"This," Entei said. "Is the Sacred Bow of Palutena! Only those worthy of it may wield it in her name. A very long time ago, she put it into our care, until someone worthy would come. She told us to give it to that person… and that person is you! Please, take it!"

Pit stepped forth and carefully picked up the weapon. He instantly realized that it was masterfully crafted, and adorned with gold. He held it in his left hand and held it up above his head. Then, with a soft, metal clink, the bow parted into two parts, each of them curved like two blades. Pit moved them gracefully around and made a few experimental cuts through the air. Yes, this weapon was indeed made for him.

"The Sacred Bow of Palutena…" he murmured. "I will never misuse this once in my life!"

"I hope so," Entei grumbled. "Because only misfortune will come to you if you should ever decide to use this weapon against someone who means no harm to you or the Queen… but now come, I want to show you more of my domain."

Together, they walked back outside, and for the rest of the day, Pit rode through the desert on Entei's broad back.

When they returned back to the tower, Pit wanted to ask Entei something he had been wondering for some time.

"Entei, may I ask you something?"

"Your servant is listening!"

"Entei… Dry Dry Desert, it has existed a long time before I came to Nintendopia, right?"

"That is correct," the Pokémon nodded.

"And Forest Haven, it existed as well, right?"

"Yes, it did. But why are you asking me that?"

Pit sighed and looked at the light of the Star Rod. "I was wondering… I had the feeling as if Dry Dry Desert, Forest Haven and even you only appeared because of my wishes. Could it… could it be that this is somehow connected with the powers of the Star Rod?"

"Ever since you wished for it, it had existed for all times."

"You mean to tell me I created all of this?"

Entei sighed as they entered the entrance hall of the tower. "Only the Queen can answer that question, all of your abilities have come from her."

----

Pit was spending several times as the guest of Entei, the legendary fire Pokémon. During the days, they were riding through the desert, and during the night, Pit was pitying the fate of his friend. But he found some comfort in the beauty of Forest Haven, so every time he felt sad, he walked outside and watched the growth of the beautiful plants.

One day, when they were coming back from one of their rides, Pit asked Entei: "Can't I stay here forever?"

Entei shook his head. "No, my lord, you can't! You are part of the Neverending Game now, and some time, you will have to leave and go where fate will lead you."

"But… but if you can't lead me out of the desert, how am I supposed to leave?"

"My Lord, know that there is a special place in Nintendopia that can bring you to every place in this world."

"You mean… the Warp Zone, right?"

"Yes, indeed!" Entei nodded. "And everywhere in Nintendopia, no matter where, a Warp Pipe can appear. It happens rarely, and mostly only to those who are chosen by fate. But should you see one, never hesitate to enter it, for you never know when it will appear again. And only your wishes will lead you through the Warp Zone, as you would never know where it could lead you."

Pit started to realize what Entei meant over the duration of the following days. Now, that he wasn't even afraid in the presence of one of the most dangerous beings in Nintendopia, he felt how another wish appeared in his heart: The wish to be with others like him. He wanted to be admired by others as the savior of Nintendopia.

And one of those nights, it really happened: As he was once again crouching in front of the petrified Entei, a strange, green pipe was coming out of the ground, directly in front of him. He realized that this had to be the entrance to the Warp Zone.

He looked at Entei's face and outside, to the beauty of Forest Haven, which he would never see again.

"Thank you!" he whispered. "Thank you for everything!" And then he slid down the pipe.


	17. The Smash Tournament

Pit didn't know for how long he wandered through the darkness, going from one pipe room to another. He really had no idea how big the Warp Zone was, and how many different pipes would lead to how many different places all over Nintendopia.

He also didn't know why none of the pipes took him out of the Warp Zone. By now, he had seen green pipes, red pipes, yellow pipes, purple pipes, white pipes, brown pipes, blue pipes, pink pipes and black pipes, but everyone he took only lead him to another pipe room.

Maybe that was because he didn't really know where he wanted to go? He knew he wanted to be with other people, but maybe he had to be more specific?

Right now, he was standing in a room with a green pipe and a brown pipe. And suddenly, he knew what he was wishing for: Link! He wanted to meet Link!

The dark green pipe reminded him of Link's green tunic. But the brown pipe looked almost wooden, so it reminded him of his wooden Ordon Shield, so he was torn which pipe he was supposed to take.

On the brown pipe, he could also see the emblem of Ordon Village, the stylized goat head, the same image visible on the Ordon Shield. But for some reason, he could also see the same emblem on the green pipe, and he had never seen the Ordon emblem anywhere on Link's tunic. That meant that this green pipe would take him someplace else, and not to Link.

So Pit took the brown pipe. He followed the pipe's twists, suddenly felt himself being lifted upwards… and came out of the other end of the pipe, in the middle of a forest glade.

He climbed out of the pipe and saw how it vanished inside the earth. That meant he was stuck here for now, but it certainly looked like a nice place.

He couldn't remember seeing such a forest anywhere in Hyrule. The woods surrounding Ordon Village were much denser and a bit darker that this forest.

Still, he wondered why he was here, when he had hoped to meet Link. Did the pipe really bring him to the right place?

Anyways, he decided to find out where he was first, and when he met some other people, he could always ask them if they knew Link.

He didn't have to search for a very long time. Only a few minutes after he left the glade, he heard voices and laughter echoing through the trees.

At the edge of the woods, he saw how a small group of travellers had set up camp. A soft blanket was lying on the ground, covered with various types of food. A few horses were standing nearby, tied to the branches of the trees. He could also see a very futuristic-looking vehicle, some sort of scooter that was hovering above the ground.

The people sitting on the blanket looked like they were enjoying themselves. He could see three men that were armed with medieval armor and swords, while the other two travellers only had the stature of a human. They were covered with fur and looked like a pair of anthropomorphic foxes. The male one was a fit youngster with orange fur, and the female was a gentle-looking vixen with blue fur.

That's when he recognized the fox: It was none other than Fox McCloud, hero of the Starfox games. And that meant his female companion had to be his girlfriend Krystal.

He smiled but decided not to show them that he already knew who they were. The three swordsmen looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place their faces. For now, he just stepped out of the shadows and approached the group.

Fox was the first one to see him. "Hello there, traveller!" he greeted him while waving around his mug. "If you have some time, please join us for a little picnic."

"Thanks," Pit replied. "I've been wandering for some time now and could use a little break."

He sat down next to Fox, while the leading pilot of the Starfox Team introduced himself and his companions: "My name is Fox McCloud, and this is my dear friend Krystal… we're members of Starfox, ever heard of us?"

"Oh, just the tales the travelling merchants tell in my home country," Pit said evasively.

"Where did you come from?" Krystal asked.

"I can't say that… for now!" Pit explained with a smile.

"Sounds like you made some sort of vow," Krystal smiled back at him. "Kind of unusual for somebody of your young age, isn't it?"

Pit just shrugged.

Fox then introduced the three swordsmen as Ike, Marth and Roy. Pit slapped himself for not recognizing them: They were characters from the Fire Emblem series, and they all had appeared in the Smash Bros games. The three of them met Fox and Krystal just a few hors ago, they were actually coming from a completely different country.

Pit learned that they were close to Corneria, the birth place of Fox, a huge metropolis with state of the art technology.

Pit already knew from the games that Corneria's ships were capable of space travel, he was just surprised that in Nintendopia, Corneria wasn't an entire planet, but instead just a huge city. Still, he just ate the food the others offered him and listened to their conversations.

He learned that they all were on their way to Corneria for a huge festival and tournament that was being held there. The best fighters and warriors were coming from all parts of Nintendopia for this event, which was being held in honor of the mysterious savior of Nintendopia. Nobody knew who he was or how he looked like, they only knew that it was a human from another world, and that he had saved Nintendopia from the Twilight by finding out the Queen's one true name.

Pit smiled when he realized that they were talking about him. Still, he didn't want to reveal that he was the one they meant.

The three winner of the tournament would be elected to take part in a search expedition which was being organized by Corneria's General Pepper and a visiting hero from the country of Hyrule, named Link. They wanted to find the unknown hero who was somewhere in Nintendopia.

Pit almost grinned when he heard Link's name. In a sense, the Warp Zone really did take him to the Hylian hero. He politely asked Fox and the others if they would mind if he would accompany them to Corneria, and they gladly accepted him in their group.

Pit also quickly realized that Fox wasn't really intent on taking part in he expedition, he just wanted to join the tournament to impress Krystal.

"Well, I hate to say it," he smirked. "But I don't have the feeling that this hero will be able to survive for a very long time in Nintendopia's wilderness, so we just HAVE to find him, right?"

"How can you say that?" Krystal frowned. "After all, he saved us from the Twilight."

"Yeah, by guessing a name," Fox grimaced. "But the ability of being a good guesser won't help him when he's faced with a dangerous creature… no, only a good blaster will help in that case!" And with a smirk, he twirled around his own weapon.

Pit decided that he would have to teach the cocky pilot a lesson sooner or later.

When they decided to leave, Pit helped them with packing everything away. Fox then sat down on his scooter, with his girlfriend sitting behind him. The three swordsmen sat up on their horses and suggested Pit that he could always ride on their pack-animal if he wanted to give his feet or wings a rest.

Pit walked over to the pack-animal, a green-colored dinosaur. Pit instantly knew that this dinosaur was a Yoshi, a member of a race of multi-colored dinosaurs that were living on several, tropical islands.

Pit sat down between the bags that were strapped to Yoshi's back and tried to make himself as comfortable as he could. But when he wanted to go after the others, he noticed that Yoshi didn't run as fast as the horses or even Fox's fast scooter.

When he told him to go faster, the green dinosaur turned around his head and looked at him with intelligent eyes.

"You know, I've only decided to stay behind so we could talk to each other. The others might not realize, but I knew that you were our savior as soon as I saw you."

"How did you know that?" Pit asked.

"I just felt it. You have the same aura of light around you as our Queen. But I suppose Yoshi's are one of the few species not too occupied with other stuff that they notice such things."

"You are a smart fella, Yoshi!" Pit smirked. "But please do me a favor and don't tell the others who I am yet, okay?"

"Sure!" Yoshi smiled and started running, so he could catch up with the others.

Not too long afterwards, they reached the shores of a huge lake. And above that lake, the city of Corneria was floating. Yes, it was indeed floating, on top of an enormous platform that was kept in the air via special anti-gravity generators that were attached to the underside of the city. The buildings were as high as mountains, and Pit could see several aircrafts and floating vehicles that were zooming around the towers and skyscrapers. A huge blimp was hovering over the city, and the words 'SUPER SMASH TOURNAMENT' were written on it.

A high-tech hovercraft was waiting for them to bring them over to the floating city. There was enough space for all of them, including the scooter, the horses and Yoshi. During their journey across the lake, the captain of the hovercraft (an anthropomorphic seal) told Pit that many years ago, the city wasn't floating, and it was an easy target for bandits and terrorists in those days. But ever since the anti-gravity engines were installed, the city was better protected from attackers. The captain couldn't tell Pit who the inventor of the engines was, he only knew from his grandfather that they were given to the residents of the city as a present.

Pit would have loved to hear more, but then they arrived the floating city. The hovercraft came to a stop directly underneath the awe-inspiring platform hovering above their heads, and Yoshi was even afraid that it would fall down on their heads.

A beam of green energy was projected down to them, from a hatch in the platform. Fox was the first to step in, and the strange ray of light pulled him upwards, until he vanished in the hatch. Krystal was the next to follow, then Ike, Marth and Roy. The crew members of the hovercraft placed the scooter and the horses at the right place, so they would be carried upwards as well. The last ones to enter the city were Pit and Yoshi.

They found themselves in an underground chamber from where they could take a lift that brought them up to the surface. Now that they were standing in the middle of the huge metropolis, Pit could take a closer look at everything.

Fox reminded him that they should find a hotel first, and he recommended the 'Happy Tadpole Hotel', which was owned by the mother from one of his best friends, Slippy Toad.

Pit helped to bring Yoshi into the hotel's garage, which doubled as a stable for mount animals. Pit gave the green dinosaur a pat on the head before he left and said: "Remember your promise, Yoshi, okay? And don't worry, I'll be back soon!"

After taking a look at his room, he decided to go out and take a tour around the city.

He was very impressed, not only by the tall buildings and the impressive technology, but also by the huge number of different races that were visiting Corneria today. He saw Gorons, Zoras and Hylians from Hyrule, Toads, Koopas and Shyguys from the Mushroom Kingdom, Piantas and Nokis from Isle Delfino, Dream Landers, humans from all over the world, and even a few Pokémon that were intelligent enough to be allowed to roam the city by themselves, without any trainers. And, of course, the Cornerians themselves. Pit could easily tell them apart from all the other visitors because they were the only anthropomorphic animals in Nintendopia.

Finally, he reached the middle of town. Here, in a huge stadium that was situated next to the Space Pilot Academy, the tournament was being held. A few pedestrians told Pit that the fights were already under way, for a couple of hours now. But there were just so many different participants that the battles could easily go on for several hours more.

Fortunately, admission was free, so Pit only had to find a place where he could sit down… which proved to be very difficult with so many spectators around. When Pit saw that several guests were making use of their flying abilities, he decided to use his wings as well. In the end, he found a free place opposite to the honorary loge, where he could see General Pepper, an old dog who was not only the leader of Corneria's military forces, but also the city's mayor. Next to him, he saw a blonde, Hylian boy who was wearing a green tunic: Link! With fascination, he watched the fighters that were down in the arena.

And then, a reptilian face appeared behind Link, as a big, orange-scaled dragon creature seemed to whisper something into Link's ear. It was Charizard, Link's Pokémon friend.

Pit was very glad that he finally found them, but for now, he just wanted to relax and enjoy the tournament. Later on, he would reveal himself.

The current battle was between a young Pokémon Trainer from Kanto and the infamous bounty hunter and F-Zero pilot, Captain Falcon!

Falcon smirked at the trainer and his battle pet. "Show me your moves!"

"Squirtle, Hydro Gun!" the trainer commanded, and his blue turtle Pokémon shot out a powerful jet of water. But there was a reason why Captain Falcon was the most feared bounty hunter by all criminals throughout his home country and its capital, Mute City.

Falcon nimbly dodged the Squirtle's water attack, ran up to it faster than any normal human could possibly run and pulled back his hand.

With a fierce yell of "FALCON PUNCH!" the captain hit Squirtle in the middle of its shell. The impact of the powerful attack threw the Pokémon through the entire arena, until he collided with the wall on the other side.

"Squiiiirrrrtle…" it groaned and sank down to the ground.

"Squirtle is unconscious!" the referee announced. "This game's winner is… Captain Falcon!"

Captain Falcon crouched down and yelled up into the sky: "Oh yeah! Who's da man? Who's da MAN?"

Pit could only shake his head.


	18. Pit versus Fox

While Captain Falcon was indeed a powerful bounty hunter with lightning-quick reflexes, he still got beaten by the even faster Marth in the third round. Meanwhile, Ike had bested Bowser, the nasty-looking, spike-shelled ruler of the Koopa Kingdom, and Roy was able to defeat Falco Lombardi, a local hero and friend of Fox McCloud.

The fights were getting more and more intense up into the semi-finals. When it was time for the last fights, Ike has proven himself to be the strongest of the strongest, Marth the fastest of the fastest and Roy the most persevering of all fighters.

General Pepper and Link exchanged a quick nod and the general stood up to greet the three winners of the tournament, when he hesitated.

Fox McCloud had entered the stadium.

All of the visitors, the Cornerians and everyone else, were holding their breaths while they waited for what Corneria's most renowned hero had to say.

Finally, Fox pulled a metal rod from his back, which extended with a resounding 'ching'. Then he addressed the three swordsmen directly: "Okay, guys… I've travelled with you and you could see that I am a capable fighter as well. In fact, I feel as confident enough that I would like to challenge all three of you at once to a duel… but if anyone of you feels too tired to keep on fighting, I'll understand that."

With a smirk, he looked up at General Pepper, who showed him a frown, then a sigh, a shrug and finally, a resigned nod. As the champion of Corneria, Fox was allowed to challenge any of the battlers that haven't been defeated yet at any time.

Fox looked back at Ike, Marth and Roy as he shouldered his staff. "So… do you accept my challenge?"

"Yes!" the three swordsmen said at once. "We accept!"

And then the battle royal began. It was awe-inspiring to watch how Fox was able to fend of all of the three knights at once. Ike struck at him with powerful blows, but Fox was stronger. Marth seemed to attack him from all sides at once, but Fox was faster. Roy tried to wear him down, but Fox was more persevering.

After several minutes had passed, Fox had disarmed all of his three opponents, and they knelt down in front of him, defeated.

Thundering applause was coming from all corners of the stadium as Fox raised his fists triumphantly up into the air, while he looked around the ranks searchingly. He was probably looking for his girlfriend, to see how impressed she was.

After the crowd had calmed down a bit, General Pepper stood up.

"Is there anyone else who wants to challenge Fox McCloud?" he asked.

"Yes, me!" a high voice called. It was Pit!

Murmurs of surprise and worry went around the spectators when they witnessed the young, winged boy standing in one of the uppermost ranks.

"He is so young!"

"Look at his beautiful wings!"

"Poor little boy…"

"They can't possibly allow him to fight such an experienced fighter as Fox…"

Pit decided to ignore the crowd for now and walked up to the balustrade in front of the seats, just above Fox's head.

"What is your name, boy?" General Pepper asked as he spoke into his microphone.

"My name is Pit!" the young angel replied.

Fox looked up to him and sighed. "Buddy, I'm sure you're quite the capable fighter, and you certainly don't carry that bow just for show… but do you really want to fight a tough guy like me? You joined us for lunch, and we had so much fun together… do you really want me to embarrass you like that?"

"I still wanna fight you!" Pit said smugly.

Fox sighed. "Well… there might be some other way how we could match with each other. How about we see who's the better sharpshooter?"

Pit thought about it and finally nodded. He spread his wings and soared down into the stadium, landing next to Fox.

General Pepper pressed a button on his communicator. "Peppy, Slippy… please prepare everything!" His two technicians obeyed, and some time later, a bunch of floating targets appeared all around them.

"Break the Targets!" the referee announced.

Fox put his staff away and pulled out his blaster. "Take a look at this, kid!" And with three, rapid shots, he managed to blast four targets at once.

"Four targets with three shots!" he grinned. "Try to top that, buddy!"

Pit smirked and took aim. The ring on his arm glowed and a string of light appeared as the Sacred Bow of Palutena created an arrow made of pure light. Pit shot… and the arrow flew through the air in a wide arc, destroying two targets at once. Quickly, Pit created a second arrow and destroyed two other targets with it.

"What do you say, Fox?" he then said and put down his bow. "Four targets with two shots! Not too shabby, huh?"

Fox frowned. "Well, not too bad… but there's so much more we can do, right? Let's see how you can handle an obstacle course."

General Pepper raised his hand, and with several buttons and switches, the technicians made the targets disappear and several obstacles came rising out of the ground. Pit saw metal walls, seesaws and stun beams.

"Get on your marks!" the referee shouted. "And race to the finish! Ready… Set… GO!!"

And Pit and Fox started running along their respective obstacle courses. Pit was impressed how quick and nimble the space pilot was running and jumping around the walls and traps.

But he didn't have the wings of an angel. Pit smirked and spread his wings, as he quickly flew over the first metal walls. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a spherical robot approaching, who was firing stun beams at him. With an elegant barrel roll, he dodged the incoming beams and kept on flying.

"He did a barrel roll!" technician Peppy shouted in awe and gestured at the winged boy.

Pit glanced over to Fox's side… both of them were getting close to the target. Both of them had to cross a metal door that was opening and closing at regular intervals.

Pit just flew faster, but Fox thought: 'I might be able to win with just a little boost of speed… if I use my special technique now…'

And he focussed his powers, planning on shooting through the moving gate in just the correct moment.

The spectators gasped when they saw how Fox's image turned into a rapid blur that moved faster than the eye could watch. A few even swore that they could see some sort of afterimage where Fox had stood.

But unfortunately, Fox had miscalculated his path to a tiny extent… and his shoulder got grazed by the upper half of the gate, just as it was closing. He went stumbling and nearly fell to the ground, while Pit just zipped straightly across the finish line.

"Goal!" the referee shouted. "Pit has won the obstacle course!"

Now Fox was snarling. "Blast it…" he murmured. "Does the kid have to be better than me in everything?"

Pit approached him with a smile. "Before you decide to go any further, Fox, let's better stop for now, before you're getting embarrassed…"

That was too much for the proud leader of the Starfox Team. Angrily, he pulled out his staff and extended it. "Okay, let's finish this with a fight!" he growled.

Pit almost had no time to defend himself against the swift strikes of his opponent, but just before the fox's staff hit him, his bow disconnected in the middle and turned into a pair of elegant-looking blades. Pit parried all of the space pilot's strikes and counterattacked with a flurry of ultra-fast attacks. Fox gasped when the force of the blade strikes forced him to step back. He tried to create a force field to protect himself, but before he could do that, Pit spun both of his blades around at the same time, levering the staff out of Fox's hands. Rapidly spinning, the long weapon flew through the air, until it got stuck in the soft soil of the stadium.

Fox looked at his weapon with a groan, dropped to his knees and lowered his head in defeat. Pit twirled around his blades one last time, then they connected with each other, and he was holding his bow in his hands, once again.

The referee cleared his throat before he announced: "This game's winner is… PIT!"

Deafening applause was coming down on Pit as all spectators jumped up from their seats at once. The crowd came running, climbing and jumping down into the stadium, two strong man lifted Pit up and carried him around on their shoulders, while flowers and confetti were raining down on the winner of the tournament. The cheers didn't seem to end.

Pit looked around for Fox. He felt sorry for him and wanted to apologize, but he couldn't see him anymore.

Suddenly everyone went silent. Pit looked over to where a young man, clad in green, had entered the stadium.

Link looked up at Pit. Pit patted the two men who were carrying him on their shoulders, and they put him down to the ground.

"If there was a warrior who has earned to join the expedition, it would be this young boy," Link said. "But there won't be an expedition anymore."

Everyone started to murmur in confusion at that curious declaration.

"The savior of Nintendopia doesn't need our protection," Link explained. "He's able to protect himself far better than most of us can. And we don't have to search for him anymore, because he already found us. I didn't recognize him at first, because he looks a bit different from when I saw him in the Gameboy Screen Door… but he is the one! There is no doubt about that!"

It was very silent when everyone looked at Pit.

Pit smiled. "You are right, Link! I am the one you brought to the Queen, so I could save her and Nintendopia, and I thank you for that!"

Murmurs of awe were going around the spectators when they heard that.

Pit smiled. "Yes, I am Pit… the Champion of Palutena!"

The spectators couldn't hold back anymore and their cheers made the stadium shake, so it seemed to the two boys. Several even started dancing where they stood, and those who had wings were flying over the stadium to salute their newest hero.

Link stretched out his hand, and Pit accepted it with a smile. And together, they left the stadiums and walked up the stairs, to the honorary loge, where General Pepper and Charizard were waiting for them.

----

This evening, the Cornerians started the most impressive display of fireworks the Nintendopians had ever seen. The military aircrafts of the Husky- and Bulldog-Units were soaring across the huge metropolis and left long trails of rainbow-colored smoke behind.

Pit was standing on the huge balcony of General Pepper's mansion, where he watched the magnificent spectacle, together with Link, Charizard and the general himself.


	19. The Graviton

General Pepper was an experienced veteran and a skillful leader in critical times, but he still was the oldest soldier of Corneria, so it was no surprise that he fell asleep even before the festivities were over.

Thus, he missed a truly awe-inspiring view: After the aircrafts of the Cornerian army were back in their hangars, Charizard was putting his own fireworks on display. For a short while, the sky above Corneria was covered with spectacular explosions and fiery images. Almost artistically, the fire Pokémon used his fire breath to masterfully create beautiful images of ember and flame.

Pit and Link were still standing next to each other and watched the spectacle.

"Seeing Charizard up there makes me wish I could fly as fast as him," Pit sighed.

"Maybe he'll let you ride him some time," Link shrugged. "It's a bit tricky though, you'll have to get used to it."

"Well, I already rode on Entei…" Pit murmured.

He didn't notice how Link was looking at him with wide eyes.

"You mean… THE Entei? The legendary Pokémon beast of fire? But… but they say that his body is covered with flames all the time… how could you…?"

Pit chuckled when he saw the surprised look on the Hylian's face. "Ah, right, I didn't tell you… His flames didn't burn me because I'm carrying the Star Rod."

He touched the golden ring that was hovering around his right wrist, and with a sparkle, it transformed back into the Star Rod.

Link stared at the legendary artifact that he had once carried as well. "So… you are the new wielder of the Star Rod, huh?"

"Yup!" Pit nodded. He held the rod towards Link and asked: "Wanna hold it for a while?"

"No, that's okay," Link grinned. "I had it long enough, you are the one who was chosen by the Queen to be its new bearer."

A loud yawn made them turn around. General Pepper was rising from the armchair in which he had fallen asleep.

"I must apologize, boys…" he muttered. "I'm not as young as I used to be… if you'd excuse me, I'm going to bed for today."

Pit and Link wished him a good night, and the aged hound retired into his bedroom.

By now, Charizard was finished with his fire show, but he still was soaring across the city.

"There's something I wanted to ask you, Pit," Link suddenly spoke up. "Back when you appeared in the Gameboy Screen Door, you… you looked different."

Pit looked at him in confusion. "Huh? How different?"

"Well, you wore different, dirty clothes, and you also had no wings."

Pit frowned. Then he shook his head. "Well, you might have seen a vision of me… but I always looked like I do now."

"Really?" Link wondered.

"I think that I can trust my own memories," Pit said with a chuckle.

"Well, that's true… but I really wonder why you looked so different in the gate's screen…"

Some time after that, they went to bed as well. They shared a guest room the general had offered them, while Charizard preferred to sleep in the stables of the 'Happy Tadpole'.

Pit couldn't sleep right away. It seemed to him that Link wasn't as impressed by his abilities anymore since he learned that he was carrying the Star Rod, not even his victory against Fox or the fact that he rode on Entei's back.

Maybe it wasn't so special after all, he realized. If the Star Rod was protecting him from harm and he only was able to beat Fox because of the sacred bow…

But there had to be something else he could do to impress Link. He wanted to gain his respect. Wasn't there anything he could do, something that Link himself couldn't do?

Then he thought of something: Technology! Hyrule was a magical country and full of wonders, but its inhabitants were pretty ignorant in terms of all things technical. And back in his own world, Pit had helped his father several times when he did some repairs on their house… maybe he could impress him like this.

He wished there was a way he could show Link everything his father had taught him back home, while they were still in Corneria… the city with all of its high-tech and advanced machinery was perfect for that.

With a satisfied smile on his lips, he fell asleep.

----

The next morning they were sitting in General Pepper's dining room and had a nice breakfast, when suddenly the general stood up from his seat.

"In the honor of our guest, the savior of Nintendopia, I have decided to show him our respect by letting him visit our engineering district, where all of Corneria's greatest inventions are created. I hope you will be satisfied by having a look at everything our most brilliant scientists came up with."

"I'd be glad to," Pit smiled, while Link sighed. He really didn't like modern technology very much, and he preferred to stay away from all machines he wouldn't be able to understand anyway.

A hover taxi was bringing them to the city's industrial district, to the huge science complex in which Corneria's most brilliant scientists were developing the most advanced technologies on a daily basis. They were welcomed by Research Director Beltino Toad.

"An honor to welcome you, Mr. Pit!" the mustached frog said in an awestruck voice. "I'll be glad to show you around. Please, come this way!"

And Beltino gave them a tour around the research labs, the workshops and the hangar where the newest vehicles for the Cornerian Defense Forces were being produced, including the Pleiades, an advanced spacecraft that was capable of carrying its passengers through outer space and the atmospheres of planets at an astounding velocity. Pit was intrigued by every little detail and asked Beltino and the general many questions, while Link's head was just spinning and wouldn't stop. In all his life, he had never believed that it was possible for humankind to fly… and now he was looking at devices that allowed people to fly to the stars…

When the tour was coming to an end, Beltino looked at Pit with hopeful eyes. "Sir… I hope you were satisfied with our nice little tour…"

"Well, it was very interesting!" Pit said with excitement. "I've never seen so many different exciting things at once in my life."

"Beltino…" General Pepper spoke up. "Maybe we should show him what's hidden in the underground chamber… perhaps he has some idea that can help your research."

"A splendid idea, general!" Beltino said. His eyes were sparkling. "Mr. Pit… let me show you a very special device, the only known in existence to all of Corneria. Here, it's this way…"

And an elevator was bringing them deep underneath the surface of Corneria's streets, into an enormous hall, were hundreds of mysterious devices at the walls were flashing and blinking, while dozens of skilled technicians and other specialists were working on them.

In the middle of the room, a giant machine was situated, an oval-shaped tube that was nearly as big as the Pleiades. Multiple wires were connected to the ground and the ceiling, although the mysterious machine was floating all by itself. A powerful hum was coming from the object, and it was surrounded by a shimmering, blue field of energy.

"This is the most advanced piece of technology in all of Corneria," Beltino said proudly. "The Graviton! It has the astounding ability of reversing gravity and keeping the Graviton itself, as well as all of Corneria, afloat. Our normal hovering engines would have never been able to keep a city of such measures as Corneria up in the air, especially not for such a long time. Only the Graviton keeps us in the air, safe from ground attackers and natural disasters such as earthquakes."

"To our shame, we don't know much about the Graviton itself," General Pepper sighed. "We know how to use it, and how to control the city's flight path, but up to now, we haven't been able to build a second device. Beltino and his colleagues never were able to find out just what kind of energy makes it work."

"So it wasn't really created by Cornerian scientists?" Pit asked in surprise.

General Pepper shook his head. "It was left as a present back in the days when Corneria was still an earthbound city… but nobody knows who left it there or for what reason it was left in our city."

"Our researchers were able to find out what it does and how it works," Beltino said with a sigh. "But that's about it… we never really knew the origin of this amazing device…"

"We know you are a true hero and without any doubt a traveller who has seen many things… so we wondered if you could help us further," the general said as Pit stepped closer to the hovering device. "Can you tell us who created the Graviton? Have you seen something similar in your life?"

"I don't know who created it, I'm sorry…" Pit murmured. "But I was wondering… have you seen those strange inscriptions on the machine's side?"

"Of course!" Beltino said. "But we haven't been able to translate it, it's written in a language not recorded in our universal translators."

"Let me take a look at it…" Pit said and flew up to the side of the glowing, oval-shaped device.

He inspected the glowing letters and realized that they looked almost like hieroglyphs. He looked down at the glowing ring around his wrist. Maybe with the Star Rod…

With no further hesitation, he put down his palm on the inscription and closed his eyes. The light of the Star Rod and the letters themselves started glowing in a much faster frequency than before, and suddenly, Pit opened his eyes and said: "That's it! It says: Enter pass code to open hidden hatch. Further instructions inside."

"Pass Code?" Link wondered. "Which Pass Code?"

"It's written down here… several glowing emblems. A star, a globe, a sun and a moon… are those emblems somewhere else on the Graviton?"

"Why, yes!" Beltino said in surprise. "One on each side of the device… The star is on top, the globe on the underside, the sun to your right and the moon to your left."

"Okay, then let me give it a try…" The young angel quickly zipped to all four sides of the big machine and pressed the glowing panels.

A low rumble filled the room all of a sudden, and it was much darker, as the glowing energy field around it seemed to vanish.

"What's happening?" Beltino shouted. "Status report! Are we still afloat?"

"Positive, sir!" one of the technicians replied. "But the impenetrable barrier around the Graviton has vanished."

"What's that?" Link shouted and gestured at the front of the machine, where a small slot has appeared underneath the glowing letters.

Pit fluttered to the slot and carefully took a small disk out of it. "Maybe this is the answer to your questions, Beltino," he said and landed next to them.

General Pepper took the blue disk out of Pit's hands and pressed on a circular pattern in the middle.

A translucent cone of light suddenly appeared over the shimmering disk, and within that light, a strange creature appeared… or rather, the image of that creature, for it was only a hologram.

The creature looked like it only consisted of a round head with a huge nose, two black, beady eyes and a bushy mustache. Small stubby feet were on its underside, and a single hair was being tied with a red bow.

"Boing!" the being said in a high-pitched voice. "Greetings! This is a record made by the emissary of the Mr. Saturn people. We hail from a distant planet and our shop has crash-landed on the world known as Nintendopia. We probably will never be able to repair our ship again, but maybe fortune will shine on us one day. Zoom! The day after we landed on this world, our ship's scientist, Dr. Saturn, had an encounter with several hungry beasts. They almost killed him, but then a lonely hunter from Corneria appeared and killed the beasts. The hunter probably doesn't even know that he saved a Mr. Saturn, but we are still grateful. Without Dr. Saturn, our hopes of ever returning back home would have been smashed that fateful day. And to show our gratitude, we have decided to give this to you: A copy of our ship's anti-gravity engine, which is much more advanced than any engine of your own. Please keep it and use it as you please! We will stay in hiding and wait for the day we will finally be able to return back home. Ding! Farewell, people of Corneria!"

And then the cone of light disappeared, together with the image of the Mr. Saturn.

Awestruck, Beltino and General Pepper looked at each other.

"An emissary of an unknown alien race!" Beltino said and grasped his head in disbelief. "And I never had the chance of studying their behavior…"

"Had we known they were in such trouble, we would have offered them one of our space engines…" General Pepper muttered as he shook his heads. "Still, I am very grateful for their present. We must find out where the Mr. Saturn are living right now, so we can thank them accordingly… and maybe our two races can learn much from each other."

"That's right!" Beltino nodded. "Gosh, this is so exciting… please excuse me! I have to discuss this with my colleagues!" And the frog ran off.

"As for you, Sir Pit…" General Pepper smiled as he turned around to face the Hero of Palutena. "Thank you very much for helping us! With this information, we might be able to contact the survivors of the Mr. Saturn, and maybe, if we help them, they can show us to create even more of these engines. If there is anything Corneria can do for you, please don't hesitate and ask!"

"Oh, it was my pleasure!" Pit grinned. "It was no big deal… and I really don't know as much about this advanced technology, like Beltino… Honestly, everyone who knows at least a bit about technology would have been able to do the same thing."

He tried to look inconspicuous and glanced over to Link. The Hylian boy was so befuddled that he couldn't utter a single word. He just opened and closed his mouth again and again.

And that alone satisfied Pit more than any present the general could offer him.


	20. Krystal's Kidnapping

When Pit and Link were finally leaving the huge science complex, the three swordsmen Ike, Marth and Roy were waiting for them.

"We came because we have a proposal to submit, Sir Pit!" Marth said. "In the tournament, we were able to witness your impressive skills with the blade and the bow… and while we know you would be more than capable of dealing with every danger by yourself, we'd like to offer you our services."

"It always pays off to have three knights of royal blood at your side, you'll see!" Roy said with a cocky grin.

"Sure, why not?" Pit replied. "It's always great to have travel companions."

The three nobles were thrilled and instantly swore their own, personal oaths to listen to every order Pit would give them.

Pit looked around. "Where is Fox? Isn't he interested in coming with us?"

"He is… feeling very gloomy," Ike explained.

"Because of his girlfriend…" Marth sighed. "Krystal didn't like the way how cocky he acted in the tournament. She told him he should learn to respect others that are equal, if not even better fighters than her, because she wants to see him again."

"Maybe you should go and see him," Roy suggested.

So Pit and Link followed the three swordsmen back to the 'Happy Tadpole', where Fox was sitting at one of the tables, alone and depressed.

"Whatever did I do?" he murmured. "Why did she look at me like that? Did I hurt her? I only wanted her to know that she can always count on me… I wanted to be the strongest so I could protect her. Is that so wrong?"

"Well, maybe you should have told her in a better way," Pit spoke up as he sat down next to the distraught space pilot.

Fox looked at him in surprised, then he sighed. "If you came to make fun of me, be my guest. You have every right, the way I treated you…"

"I'm not one to bear a grudge," Pit assured him. "And I only came because I heard that you are not feeling well. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Fox gave him a sad smile. "I'm afraid nobody could help me…Krystal only wants to come back to me when I have proven that she can rely on me…"

"Then prove it to her already!" Link suggested.

Fox laughed bitterly. "Easier said than done! Such chances don't appear on a daily basis, you know? Corneria is a safe city, we haven't received a new mission for months… how am I gonna prove that I am capable of guarding her if she isn't even in danger?"

"Is that so important?" Link wondered. "Why don't you try the romantic way? Invite her to a date, send her flowers…"

"I'm not exactly too subtle in those categories," Fox sighed. "The last time I tried being romantic around her, she suggested I should try wooing a Saurian Thorn Tail… No, the only chance I have is to prove her that I'm still a skilled fighter!"

"That might be a problem…" Ike nodded. "Corneria is one of the safest cities I know, and even if she would leave town, how are the odds that she would be put in danger just like that? She is a talented staff-fencer herself, as far as I heard."

"Too true…" Fox nodded. "The staff I used is an almost exact replica of her own… she gave it to me for my last birthday…"

"What we need… is someone who would threaten her without actually endangering her life or health," Marth pondered.

Roy nodded. "Yes. And best would be a group of assaulters, so she couldn't defend herself… and then you can come for her rescue."

And he gave Pit a sly wink.

And the young angel understood.

"Listen…" he said, knowingly making use of the Star Rod's powers. "There actually is something you can do, Fox… right at this moment, Krystal is being kidnapped, outside of the city."

For a while, Fox seemed scared, and at the same time, hopeful. Then he slumped back down on his chair. "That is impossible…" he murmured. "Corneria hasn't had any serious enemies in the past few years…"

"Maybe, but there is someone who always had a massive crush on your girlfriend… a member of a certain mercenary group, who has a soft spot for cute girls… and who always carries a rose with him.

Fox looked surprised. Then he jumped to his feet and snarled angrily. "Of course, I should have known: Panther Caruso, that sneaky little womanizer… but wait, I know Krystal… and she would have been able to fend him off by herself."

"True, but he was accompanied by his two companions: Wolf O'Donnell and Leon Powalski, the other two members of the Star Wolf Team. He convinced them to kidnap Krystal, so they could lure you and your own team into a trap… you know Wolf always wanted to be the best pilot, right? And he can't do that as long as you are around. And I think I don't have to tell you how Leon feels about your friend, Falco…"

"Those dirty little…" Fox grumbled. "To think I believed them to actually have a sense of honor. But this time, I'm gonna prove it to Wolf, and to Krystal: I am the best space pilot in all of Nintendopia and the surrounding planets!" He jumped to his feet. "Sorry I can't stay and chat, I have a few crooks to chase!"

And while he ran outside, he pulled out his communicator. "Falco, Slippy… to the Arwings! Krystal's in trouble! Hurry up!"

Pit and his friends looked after him as he ran towards the hangar where his trusty Arwing was waiting.

"I hope I did the right thing…" Pit murmured.

"Of course you did!" Roy grinned and patted his back. "Everyone knows that Star Wolf is nothing but a bunch of troublemakers. I heard how they plundered the outskirts of Katina last week, Corneria's federate town. Now Fox and his pals can take care of them… and Fox can prove to Krystal that he's still her man."

Link sighed as he followed his friend out of the hotel. "Maybe we should leave soon as well…"

"Leave?" Pit asked in a surprised voice. "Where to?"

"Well, I helped you to come to Nintendopia, so it's only fair that I help you to find the way back home, right?"

Pit was surprised, but then he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you're right! I almost forgot about that. Okay, guys, pack your things so we can leave!"

And then Pit, Link and the other three swordsmen got ready for their long journey. Link went to tell Charizard they were leaving, while Ike, Roy and Marth all asked Pit how he was going to travel without any mount. They all wanted to offer him one of their own horses, but Pit told them he would prefer to ride on the green Yoshi he had been talking to before they arrived at Corneria.

Then Pit followed Link to the mansion of General Pepper. He wanted to thank him for being such a kind host.

Charizard was waiting for them in front of the mansion. He was very happy when he heard that they were going to leave… he really didn't like big cities like Corneria very much.

They found General Pepper in his office, where he was talking with Beltino. They were both a bit disappointed when they heard that they already had to bid their guests farewell, but they wished them a safe journey.

"By the way, I have something for you, Sir Pit!" Beltino said. "A little farewell present… here you go!"

Pit took the blue, glowing stone and looked at it from all sides. "It looks nice," he finally said. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure, but we found it in another hidden hatch in the Graviton," the scientist explained. "As you are the one who helped us to finally discover its secrets, we felt that this would be a fitting present. Our instruments were able to detect a mysterious source of energy inside the stone, and I am pretty sure that it is of a magical nature, so we simply called it a 'Spell Stone'. It was obviously meant as an additional present from the Mr. Saturn to those who manage to find the hidden message… and that's why I want you to have it."

Pit looked at the smooth surface of the shining stone and smiled. "Well, if it is a magical stone, maybe I'll be able to discover it's secret abilities some time. Thanks, Beltino!"

They shook hands with the general and the scientist one last time, and then they walked back to the elevator hall, where the three swordsmen were already waiting with their luggage, their three horses and Yoshi.

While the elevator was bringing them down, Pit leaned over to Yoshi and whispered: "Yoshi… if you like, you can be my steed" What do you say?"

And while the hovercraft was bringing them back to the shore, Yoshi's cheers of joy could be heard all across the lake Corneria was floating over.

----

As for Fox and his team, they really did manage to find Star Wolf's new, secret hideout. They managed to defeat the evil mercenary team and saved Krystal, who was more than willing to make up with her boyfriend.

But that's another story.


	21. Metamorphosis

Rain started to fall down on the third day of their journey through the woodlands around Corneria City. Their coats and cloaks clung to their bodies while they rode alongside a gentle river. Still, Ike, Marth and Roy were in a good mood and showed it by singing various songs they heard in their respective home countries.

In the evening, the rain finally stopped, and they put up their camp between the river and the forest. Roy volunteered to take care of dinner, and started to roast a huge piece of meat over the campfire.

Pit was in deep thought, though. The previous day, they had come across an old, abandoned campsite. An empty crate that was left behind bore a special emblem, a grinning wolf face – the sign of Star Wolf. That meant they must have put up camp at that place, not too long ago.

Pit was feeling guilty for using Star Wolf to kidnap Krystal and allow Fox to show his true abilities as a hero. He also endangered the blue-furred vixen, as he never knew how the rough mercenaries would handle her.

He didn't want to use the Star Rod's powers to cause harm to people, he wanted that they looked up at him as some sort of benefactor.

He looked over to where Link was giving his winged Pokémon a large piece of meat. Charizard tore right into it and then gave Link a disgusted look. "Hey, that meat is completely charred… you want me to eat this?"

"I admit that Roy isn't the best cook I've seen," Link said with a frown. "But you could be a bit more grateful, you know? Or do you prefer your meat raw?"

Charizard grumbled something unintelligible, but Link and Pit could tell that he was getting used to receive roasted meat for his meals, ever since he became Link's companion.

Link came over to Pit and sat down next to him with a grin. "Charizard always acts all grumpy, but once you get to know him better, you realize that he's actually a decent guy… he just hides it well."

He then got more serious. "Pit… I must say, I am curious. How did you get here in the first place?"

"You know that, don't you?" Pit asked. "You brought me to the Queen."

"Yes, but what happened before that?" Link asked.

And Pit told him how he found the small store and met Mr. Hando, and how he bought the game and played it in his room. When he reached the part where Link's own adventures started, the Hylian boy waved it aside. He seemed more interested in the reasons for Pit's appearance in the gaming store.

Pit frowned, but he really couldn't come up with any good explanation. Any memory he had from being weak and scrawny were completely wiped out of his head, so he couldn't recall any boys that teased him. Link asked him about his previous life, and Pit told him about his home, his parents and his school.

Later that evening, they all put up their blankets and layed down to sleep. Ike, Roy and Marth were fast asleep, and Charizard was snoring loudly as well. But Link turned around to face Pit one more time before they slept.

"It's because of the Star Rod," he said.

Pit blinked. "What?"

The Hylian hero sighed. "I should have known it, but it works differently if you use it, because you're not from Nintendopia."

"What do you mean by that?" Pit wondered.

"I wasn't allowed to use the Star Rod's powers too often," Link explained. "Only in times of dire need or danger could I risk to use it's wish granting abilities. But you seem to be able to use its powers freely… that's how you made Star Wolf kidnap Krystal. Although they will always recall that it was their plan from the beginning. But at the same time, the Star Rod is taking something from you… your memories!"

Pit thought about it. He didn't feel as if he was missing something. "Well, I'm sure Palutena must have had her reasons when she gave me the Star Rod," he said.

Link looked at him very thoughtfully before he sighed and turned around to sleep.

----

In the middle of the night, Pit woke up because of some strange sound he had heard.

The campfire was extinguished, and he was surrounded by darkness. He then felt Link's hand on his shoulder, and the Hylian boy asked him: "Did you hear that as well?"

"Yes," Pit nodded. "What could that be?"

They decided not to wake the others and carefully left the camp. The strange noises were coming from within the woods. It almost sounded like the clinking and tapping you could hear in a craftsman's workshop.

"If it only was a bit brighter…" Link murmured. "It's so black, I can't see a thing!"

"Wait a minute," Pit whispered. "I still have the Spell Stone Beltino gave me…" He pulled out the magical rock, and its soft, blue gleam drove away the darkness and illuminated a small clearing in front of them. In its middle, they could see a huge group of small creatures surrounding a machine that had surprising similarities to the Graviton in Corneria City.

Pit looked at their spherical body, their huge noses with the mustaches, and the tiny bows on their single strands of hair.

"Oh no, ding!" they murmured. "Somebody found us! Whatever shall we do, boing? Whatever shall we do?"

"Calm down!" Pit told them. "We are not your enemies. We are your friends."

"Can that be?" one of the small creatures asked. "Can a being as big and intimidating as you can really be our friend? Or do you plan on picking us up and throwing us around for your amusement? Zoom!"

Link barely suppressed a snicker when hearing that. "I assure you we mean you no harm! You are the Mr. Saturn, correct? We are allies with Corneria, the same ones you gave the Graviton as a present."

"You are right, dingding!" they said in unison. "But ever since our ship here crash-landed in this forest, we were worried if we would ever find a way back to our home planet… and we always had to fear being eaten alive by local predators."

"I feel sorry for you guys!" Pit said.

One of the Mr. Saturn sighed. "Oh, if we only weren't this small and defenseless! If only we had the strength to defend ourselves against any hostile creatures! Just a few nights ago one of our friends went missing, and we fear the worst. If we only had the strength to protect ourselves."

"We also haven't enough energy left to make our ship fly back home again, zoom!" another one spoke up. "As long as we don't find another way of gathering energy, we won't be able to leave this planet. Ding ding!"

"Isn't there anyone who can help us, boing?" a third Mr. Saturn wailed.

"I can!" Pit said. "I carry the Star Rod."

The Mr. Saturn suddenly grew very excited. They all started blabbing and looked at the golden ring that surrounded Pit's arm with awe.

"Is there any way I could help you?" Pit asked. He really felt pity with these creatures, because he knew that once again, he was responsible for their situation, because it was his wish back in Corneria that brought them here in the first place.

"Winged little boy," one of the big-nosed aliens whimpered. "We have but one wish: Give us a different form! A form in which we have nothing to fear from any wild creatures that might see us as prey."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Pit said. "You all will fall asleep, but if you wake up again in the morning, you will have changed. You will have become strong beings that have nothing to fear from any hostile beings. You will also be able to hover in the air, increasing your mobility. And on top of that, you'll have the natural ability of gathering energy by yourselves, so you'll be able to fly back home very soon."

He waited for a reply, but all he could hear was soft snoozing.

"They're already asleep," Link said. "Come, let's get back to the camp."

Pit put the Spell Stone back in his bag, and they walked back to their camp. Ike, Roy, Marth and Charizard were still sound asleep.

"What do you think about this?" Pit asked as they lay back down on their blankets.

Link just shrugged and said: "I wonder what it will cost you…"

----

The next morning, they woke up by a bloodcurdling scream.

"OH MY GOD! Where did those come from?"

"Your sword! Grab your sword!"

"PIT! Get up and help us!"

Pit jumped to his feet and saw to his horror that their camp was under attack. Link, Ike, Marth and Roy swung around their blades to fend off a swarm of monstrous creatures, while Charizard angrily blew plumes of flames against the floating beings. Yoshi was fighting as well and boldly threw his green-spotted eggs at the creatures. He abstained from trying to grab them with his long and flexible tongue, though, as he didn't want the floating monsters grab it with their sharp mandibles.

Pit could just stare when he recognized the floating beings. They looked similar to floating jellyfish, with a green, transparent membrane that surrounded three red, glowing nuclei. On their underside, the sharp mandibles were jutting out. The creatures hovered around and filled the air with their shrill screeches.

Pit recognized them instantly, as they were the same creatures that gave a certain series of Nintendo games their name.

"The Metroids…" he murmured. He then shouted: "Link! Guys! The only way we can fight them is with ice weapons."

"Now he tells me…" Charizard grumbled after his twenty-third try to fry the Metroids with his flames failed.

"Ice?" Ike shouted. "Where are we supposed to find ice weapons in such a situation? We only have our blades…"

"AAAAARRRRRGGGHH!" Roy's terrified scream made them turn around in surprise. "Get… get it off… GET IT OFF!!"

To Pit's horror, one of the Metroids had managed to latch onto the red-haired swordsman's head and clamped down with his mandibles. Roy tried very hard to push the alien creature off, but it was futile. Then he gasped while the Metroid started to drain him from his vital energy.

"Roy!!" Marth shouted. "Guys, we… we have to help him!"

"Everybody, duck!" Link shouted as he took out his bow. Ike, Marth and Pit obeyed, and Link focussed his magical energies on the tip of the arrow, which suddenly got surrounded by an aura of freezing, magical energy.

"Take this!" Link yelled as he fired his Ice Arrow at the Metroid that was draining Roy. In an instant, it was frozen solid.

"Now!" Pit yelled. "Hit it with your strongest attack!"

Ike yelled on top of his longs, drew back his blade, threw it up into the air, jumped after it, snatched it in mid-air, twirled around… and came plunging down on the frozen Metroid.

The heavy blade sliced the frozen creature apart like a loaf of bread, and Roy was set free, gasping for air. Angrily, Ike stomped down on the two halves of the Metroid, breaking it into even smaller fragments of ice.

"Unbelievable…" Marth murmured. "That was the Aether… Ike's strongest attack! I've never seen him use it before…"

"Wh-what's going on?" Roy muttered while he was staggering back to his feet. "What are those creatures?"

"Metroids…" Pit grumbled as he watched the remaining aliens that were now keeping their distance and circling them. "The most dangerous alien life form you can imagine… but I have no idea why they are here."

"They certainly look very hungry…" Yoshi whimpered.

"I… heard of them…" Link muttered. "General Pepper told me a story about a legendary bounty hunter who once hunted them… but he also said that the last Metroid had been killed after the destruction of Planet Zebes. So how… how can they be here?"

"I wish I knew…" Pit said. "I wish I knew…"

And suddenly, something strange happened. The circle around his wrist lightened up, and all of a sudden, he was hearing words. The voices of the Metroids were still shrill screeches and hisses, but he now heard how they talked to each other… by using some sort of primitive telepathy.

"Why?" he snarled and tightened his grip around his bow. "Why are you doing this?"

One of the bigger Metroids suddenly turned around in mid-air and came floating towards him. Pit flinched, and the others reached for their weapons… but then the Metroid stopped and Pit could hear a voice in his head:

'SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND US? THEN KNOW THAT WE ARE THE METROID! WE ARE HERE TO DRAIN ALL OF YOU WEAKER LIFE FORMS OF YOUR ENERGIES! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!'

"Well, you'll see that we're not as harmless as other creatures you dealt with…" Pit grumbled and separated his sacred bow into a pair of blades.

'WE HAVE DECIDED TO SPARE YOUR LIVES FOR NOW,' the Metroid went on. 'YOU KNOW OF OUR ULTIMATE WEAKNESS… ALSO, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO MADE US WHAT WE ARE TODAY, SO WE'LL LET YOU LIVE FOR TODAY!'

"What… what do you mean?" Pit asked in confusion. "I made you like this? What's that supposed to mean?"

'LAST NIGHT, WE WERE JUST THE WEAK, PATHETIC MR. SATURN! NOW WE ARE SO MUCH MORE! WE ARE THE METROID! AND WE WILL MAKE NINTENDOPIA OUR NEW HOME PLANET! UNTIL NEXT TIME WE MEET, GREAT BENEFACTOR… THE NEXT TIME, YOU MIGHT BE OUR PREY; THOUGH!'

And the Metroids turned around and floated away, their shrill screeches echoing in their ears even after they were gone.

Link sighed in relief. "Well, that was that. Let's get out of here quickly, before they come back!"

He then turned around and saw how his winged friend was kneeling on the ground and clutching his head. "Pit?"

"It's all my fault…" he cried again and again. "It's all my fault…"


	22. New companions?

It was getting warmer when they finally journeyed on. Everyone was worried and on edge, because they knew the Metroids cold come back any time.

But Pit was the most pensive one. While the others rode ahead, he followed quietly on Yoshi. And while Ike, Roy and Marth had too much respect for the angelic boy, the green dinosaur had no idea how he could cheer his friend up.

Link and Charizard were once again scouting ahead, but they had noticed Pit's brooding mood ever since they left their camping site. And Link was wondering what he could do to pull Pit out of his depressed state.

He asked Charizard what he could do, and the Fire Pokémon chuckled and let out a tiny flame before responding: "That's easy… didn't you tell me he always wanted to ride on my back?"

When the riders reached the mountains, which they had decided to follow, Link and Charizard were waiting for them.

"Are you tired?" Pit asked.

Link shook his head. "Nope, I just wanted to ask you if I could ride for a while on Yoshi's back… I always wondered what it would be like to ride a Yoshi."

"Well, I don't mind," said Yoshi in a surprised voice.

Link smiled. "Great! Then how about I lend you my old pal Charizard for a while?"

"You'd do that?" Pit asked and looked at the winged Pokémon.

Charizard grinned at him. "No problem at all, kid! C'mon, climb aboard… and hold on tight!"

Pit jumped off Yoshi's saddle and climbed on Charizard's broad back. With one mighty flap of his wings, the orange dragon rose up into the air.

By now, Pit had become quite the good flyer himself, but he quickly realized that he would never be able to fly as fast as Charizard. He also remembered his ride on Entei's back, but while that was nothing but a rush, Charizard's flight was of an entirely different nature. Pit lost count of time, while they soared over the treetops and mountain peaks, until they finally returned to the others.

Link and Charizard's method had worked: Pit was in a much better mood now, and he didn't ponder about what he had done to the Mr. Saturn as often as he did before. At midday, they camped once again on a desolate plateau, and the three swordsmen left to hunt for some food. They asked if Pit and Link wanted to accompany them, but they turned down their offer.

While they were waiting for the others to return, Link spoke up and said: "C'mon, Pit, tell us more about your world!"

"Well, what would you like to hear?" Pit asked.

"How about those kids from your school?" Charizard suggested.

"Which kids?" Pit asked in surprise.

"The kids that always teased you," the Pokémon explained.

"Kids that teased me?" Pit wondered. "I don't know anything about kids… and I know that nobody would have dared to tease me."

"But you do remember that you went to school, right?" Link asked.

"Yes," Pit nodded pensively. "I remember going to school, that's right."

Link and Charizard exchanged a worried look.

"I was afraid of that…" Link murmured.

"What do you mean?" Pit asked.

"You once again lost part of your memories," Link replied in a firm voice. "This time it was because you turned the Mr. Saturn into the Metroids. You shouldn't have done that!"

Instantly, Pit's mood was as dark and gloomy as it had been before. "I already know that, Link…" he muttered. "Thank you for reminding me…"

"That's not what he meant," Charizard grumbled. "True, the Metroids are going to be a menace… but the problem we are talking about is that you are losing your memories. You should stop using the Star Rods power or you'll lose all of your memories… and then how are you planning on returning back to your world?"

"Well, I'm not really looking forward to going back there, you know?" Pit finally admitted.

"But you have to!" Link said with worry. "You must go back and make sure that people in your world continue to play our games, so other humans can come to Nintendopia."

"I'm still here, you know?" Pit said. "It was just some time ago since I met Palutena…"

"Well, at least it makes sense now," Charizard sighed. "The reason we can't find any hint on how you can return back to your world is that you don't really wish to go back there."

"Pit," Link almost pleaded. "Isn't there anything you are missing from your world? What about your parents?"

"They don't have much time for me after all…" Pit murmured. "Maybe they are actually happy that I'm gone…"

Link looked at him with astonishment.

Pit sighed. "But maybe you are right," he said in a calmer voice. "I'll try to remember your advice."

Later, the three swordsmen returned. They managed to shoot a few rabbits. After they had lunch, they left again, and this time, Pit was once again riding on Yoshi's back.

They kept on riding the entire afternoon. The whole day, they kept on riding through the thick mountain forest. But for some reason, they must have ridden in a circle, because at the time it was getting dark, they were once again on the plateau they had left the very same morning.

"That… never happened to me before," Ike admitted.

"I don't believe it," Marth gasped.

"This can't be…" Roy grumbled.

Link took a closer look at the place. "It's really the same plateau, the leftovers prove it. Seems like we have no other choice but to stay here for the night."

----

The next morning, they left early and travelled all across the woods, once again, only to come back to the very same plateau in the evening.

"But… but how?" Ike stuttered.

"This is madness," Marth groaned.

"And it doesn't make any sense at all," Roy added.

Still, they had no choice but to spend yet another night on the plateau. When Pit was bringing Yoshi over to the horses, the green dinosaur turned around his head and said: "I know why we're not able to move on."

"How do you know that?" Pit asked him.

"Because us Yoshis have always been a pretty intuitive race," Yoshi explained. "And I can feel that something is bothering you."

"I see… and you think that's the reason why we can't get a move on?"

"It's because you don't have any more wishes, Pit," Yoshi said. "And up to now, the Star Rod has been your guidance."

Pit looked at his friend in surprise. "You really are a smart guy, Yoshi!"

Yoshi looked at the ground bashfully. "Well, do you know in which direction we have been moving until now?" he then asked.

"No," Pit replied. "Which direction?"

"To the middle of Nintendopia… towards the Palace in the Sky."

"But how can that be?" Pit wondered. "Link would have noticed, and Charizard as well."

"Well, I don't want to compare myself to such a powerful fire Pokémon," Yoshi said. "But if there is something I know, it's the direction I'm moving. That's a birth trait, you know? That's why I was certain you would want to see the Queen again."

"Palutena…" Pit murmured. "Yes, I want to see her again. She will tell me what to do."

He petted the dinosaur's huge nose. "Thanks, Yoshi!"

----

The next morning, Link walked up to Pit and looked at him bashfully. "Pit, listen… I have to apologize. Charizard and I, we just wanted to give you a good advice, but now I see that we were wrong. Since you stopped wishing for something, we couldn't move on. I talked with Charizard, and we realized that you can't get back home as long as you don't use the Star Rod's powers anymore. We know you might lose even more memories, but I guess that's a risk we have to take."

"Yes," Pit nodded. "Yoshi told me the same thing. Until now, I've been searching for a way back home… without any success. That's why I decided to look for the only person who can tell me how to find it."

He turned to the others and spoke up loudly: "Guys, I've decided where we're going next. And that will be the Palace in the Sky. I'm going to meet Palutena again!"

"Hooray!" the three swordsmen cheered.

But Charizard frowned. "Do you think that's a good idea, buddy? They say that you can meet the Queen only once in your life. I don't think she's going to welcome you."

"Palutena owes me a lot," Pit shot back. "Are you really saying that she won't let me enter her palace?"

"Every Nintendopian knows that it's very hard to understand her decisions," Charizard growled angrily and exhaled a tiny plume of fire.

"You and Link always want to give me good advice, do you?" Pit shouted. "Well, your last advice didn't really help us, did it? Besides, I'm not a Nintendopian, and that's why I believe that Palutena will welcome me."

Everyone stayed silent for a while, then Link spoke up in a quiet voice: "Maybe… you really are right, Pit. We can't know how the Queen will act towards you."

Then they left the plateau, and before noon, they were able to reach the edge of the forest. They were now riding across wide grasslands, with a few hills here and there.

Now that they were back in the open, Charizard and Link were scouting ahead again. While they were flying across the plains, Link asked: "Do you really think the Queen doesn't care about Pit anymore?"

"Who knows?" Charizard shrugged. "She makes no differences."

Link didn't say anything for a while. Then he murmured: "He's my friend, Charizard. We have to help him. But how?"

"Well, I'd say, with luck… but unfortunately, luck doesn't appear out of thin air."

----

This evening they found a deserted cabin that was standing near a river. Link told his friends everything he and Charizard had seen during their flight.

"By the way, we were also able to see that we were being followed."

The others looked at each other in surprise.

"Oh, really?" Ike asked. "How many?"

"I counted ten people, but they won't be able to catch up with us today."

"Are they armed?" Roy wanted to know.

"I can't say for sure, but there were others approaching us from the west and the east."

"Let's wait and see what they want," Marth suggested. "Even if there were thirty or thirty-five people, we can deal with them."

Pit agreed with that.

That night, Pit dreamt about Palutena. Her green hair was waving behind her just like her cloak, and she smiled at him.

When he woke up, early in the morning, he heard some noises coming from outside. He stepped out of the cabin and grasped his bow. In the morning mist, he could clearly see five figures. Quickly, Pit woke up his friends.

Link and the three other swordsmen took their blades, then they stepped forth to welcome the newcomers. When the strangers waiting outside recognized Pit, they all knelt down and said: "All hail and glory for Pit, Champion of Palutena!"

Pit quickly realized that the arrivals were members of different species, all races from various parts of Nintendopia.

The first one was a woman with dark green hair, clad in a red dress. She was surrounded by an aura of mystery, and when she got up from the ground, she said: "I am Sabrina, Pokémon Gym Leader from Saffron City!"

The second one was a small guy with shaggy hair and a white headband, who still looked like he was a hardened fighter. "I am Knuckle Joe, the strongest martial artist from Dream Land," he said.

The third one was a sleek, blue-skinned girl, who had several, fish-like appendages all over her body. She wasn't wearing anything, how it was common practice among her people… She was a Zora, one of the fish folk from Hyrule. "I'm Princess Ruto of the Zora," she introduced herself.

The fourth one was a Koopa, a blue-shelled turtle from the Mushroom Kingdom. Around his neck, he wore a red bandana. "I'm Kooper from Koopa Village," he said.

And the last one… was a humanoid, who was clad from tip to toe in a futuristic battle armor, complete with a mounted arm cannon and a red, spherical helmet. Although her true body wasn't visible underneath her armor, he could tell right away that it was a female… because he recognized her.

Her green visor glinted as she spoke up in a calm voice: "I… am Samus Aran!"


	23. The entrance to the Underworld

„Why have you followed us?" Ike asked, still not having released the handle of his sword. He was the only one who still wasn't convinced of the arrivals' harmlessness.

The green-haired woman who had introduced herself as Sabrina, turned around to face Pit, ignoring Ike. "Sir Pit, we have come from all parts of Nintendopia to find you. We came to greet you and to ask you to accept us as your followers."

Pit was a bit surprised at the woman's words and looked over to Link, who was still staring sternly at the small group of travellers.

"We know that you indirectly created the Forest Haven and Dry Dry Desert," Samus Aran then spoke up, her voice dampened by her helmet. "We know you were the guest of the flaming beast, Entei, and that you walked through the Warp Zone. We also know what happened in Corneria. We know that everything you say can become reality, because the Star Rod's powers are with you. We know that Nintendopia owes you its existence, so we decided to help you on your journey, because that is the least we can do for what you did for us."

"I would be happy to accept your help," Pit replied. "We are on our way to find the Palace in the Sky, so I can talk to the Queen. So help us find it, and you'll have my thanks."

Samus and the others seemed glad that they were accepted. After a short debate, they agreed to follow Pit's little caravan.

Pit noticed how Link was carefully watching the armored bounty hunter. Did Link know anything about Samus he didn't know? Or was he worried about her presence? Could she be here because she was hunting the Metroids? Pit decided to ask Link what was on his mind some time later.

All day long, more pilgrims were reaching their travelling group. Not just the few groups Link and Charizard had spotted during their scouting flights, but much more. Pit saw Toads with spots of various colors, human soldiers and mages, futuristic mercenaries and mythological creatures, intelligent animals, humanoid or not, Gorons, Dekus, Ritos and Tokays, residents of Dream Land, Kanto, Mute City and Fourside.

By now, even more than hundreds of different creatures were following Pit and his friends. And they all had come to welcome the hero of Nintendopia, to make sure that he would safely reach whatever place he was journeying to.

At evening, they reached a big waterfall. And when nightfall came, they reached a small path that led them into another forest, this one filled with giant flowers, which were as big as trees. They had strange, spherical bulbs growing from their stems, red with a pattern of white spots. The stems were very thorny.

When they set up camp for the night, they decided to place a few guards around the multiple tents, just in case something unusual happened. Pit wasn't the only one who was worried by the strange flowers. Somehow, they looked familiar to him…

A few guards were being placed for the night, then Pit went to sleep in the tent which was given to him as a present by a few delegates from Altea.

Still, he couldn't find any sleep. Something was keeping him awake. And when someone tapped against the wooden poles of his tent, he was even glad.

"Sir Pit… are you still awake?" a female voice asked.

Pit instantly recognized the voice. "Sure, Samus. Come right in!"

The female bounty hunter came into the tent, gave him a respectful nod and sat down when he gestured at the pillows lying next to his sleeping mat.

Samus looked like she just came from her own tent, as she didn't wear her Chozo Suit, only the form-fitting, blue suit she always wore underneath.

"Well, is there something you wanted to talk about?" Pit asked.

Samus hesitated, then nodded. "Sir, you should know that…"

"Please, call me Pit. We are all friends here."

"Alright then… Pit. You should know that I came here for a special mission, not just to accompany you."

"I already figured as much," Pit replied. "It's not like you to just follow anyone on some sort of 'idealistic' crusade. Besides, you always preferred to travel by yourself, right?"

Samus looked surprised. "How do you know all of this?" she asked, impressed.

"Um, well, you know… It's just common knowledge, you know? I mean, you are the famous bounty hunter, Samus Aran… I've just heard so much about you."

"So… I am famous in your world as well?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh yes," Pit nodded. "More than you'd think…"

Samus shook her head. "Well, never mind… I just wanted to tell you that I am here…"

"Because of a special mission," Pit repeated her own words. "Yes, you already said so. But what kind of mission?"

"Well… there have been reports… sightings of certain life-forms… life-forms that I was almost certain were already extinct. I came here to see if those reports were correct." Her face took on a very determined look. "I must make sure that nobody misuses their powers like before."

Pit could imagine what she was talking about. "Do you mean… the Metroids?" he asked.

"You heard about them?" Samus asked in surprise. "What do you know? Did you see them?"

"We had an… unfortunate encounter with them," Pit admitted. "They attacked our camp, and only with the use of Link's Ice Arrows were we able to drive them away."

"Ah yes, the Metroid's fortunate weakness against cold… I'm surprised you know about that, though. After I eradicated most Metroids on their homeworld, not many people living on the surface of Nintendopia knew about them anymore. But I guess they attacked you because they were in need of food. As you might know, Metroids feed on life energy contained within every living being. Their instincts tell them to constantly feed on that energy, so that sometimes, they could evolve into their more advanced forms. Can you tell me where they went?"

Pit shrugged. "I can't say for sure… I only know that after we killed one of them, their leader told me that they would be back. Then they fled into the woods… they could be anywhere by now."

"Hold on," Samus said. "What did you just say? Leader? He told you? Metroids can't talk!"

"Well, this one could… he didn't really have a mouth or anything, but somehow, he was able to speak to me… telepathically. He also was clearly in charge of the swarm."

Pit decided not to tell Samus that those Metroids had once been Mr. Saturn. He really didn't feel proud of what he did to them, and he didn't want to find out what the bounty hunter would say, should she find out.

Samus rubbed her chin. "That… is most unusual. Still, with those Metroids at large, I know I have to find them sooner or later. If they evolve and reproduce, it's just a matter of time until they have reestablished a new colony, just like that one on SR388."

"Well, how do you plan on finding them?" Pit asked.

"As I don't really know where I should start looking for, I guess it's best if I stay with your travelling group. If we come through areas where the Metroids have been spotted, I can gather more information. And maybe someone at the Queen's palace can help me further."

Just then, someone else came into the tent. It was Roy.

"Excuse me, Pit, but… we really have a problem here."

"What is it, Roy?" Pit asked.

The red-haired swordsman looked back outside and said: "Well, I talked to several of our new companions, and they told me they knew this area. They are very afraid, Pit."

"Afraid of what?" Pit wondered.

"This area… this forest with the man-eating Piranha Plants, it is the entrance to the Underworld… the lair of the most dangerous demon-queen in all of Nintendopia. Her name is Medusa."

Pit frowned. That name sounded familiar… but he couldn't quite recall where he heard it before.

Samus reached for the paralyzer gun that was dangling from her waist. "Well, if she plans to make any trouble, we're gonna show her that we are not to be taken lightly."

"Tell the others to calm down," Pit said. "My friends and I will protect them from whatever may happen."

Roy nodded and left the tent. Samus excused herself as well, she said she had to get into her Chozo Suit, just to be prepared.

After a few minutes, Pit left his tent. Outside, he could see his followers standing around nervously, always jumping in fright when one of the Piranha Plants around them decided to snap into their direction.

He saw Link walking up to him. The Hylian boy looked very worried.

"I guess Roy already told you where we are?" he asked.

Pit nodded, and Link added: "You know, I don't like this… Charizard and I flew ahead a couple of miles, and we saw some sort of stone building coming out of the ground. It almost looke like a mixture of a mountain and a temple… a dark, evil temple. When we keep on walking this way, we'll reach it in a couple of hours. Wouldn't it be better to go elsewhere? There is no reason to meet with Medusa."

"No," Pit replied. "There is a reason."

"What reason?"

"I want to meet her."

Link looked at his friend with wide eyes. He then sighed. "Pit… can you come with us for another flight? There is something I have to tell you, but… I'd like to talk to you in private."

"I already figured as much," Pit said. "Okay, why not?"

They went to Charizard and sat up on his broad back. Shortly afterwards, they were once again flying through the air, above the wildly snapping Piranha Plants.

"I wanted to tell you something," Link finally said. "Charizard and I, we… we are worried about you. The way you act… the way you use the Star Rod's powers… don't you think you're taking this 'Hero of Nintendopia' thing a bit too far? I mean, why risk everyone's lives just because you feel like meeting up with the evil sorceress?"

"You know, you two really shouldn't worry that much," Pit said in a very cool voice. "I have everything under control."

Charizard turned around his head and grumbled: "You know, we only want to help you. And Link has a suggestion to make, you should listen to him."

"Another one of your good advices?" Pit sighed.

"No," Link said and shook his head. "Just a suggestion… but you should really think about it. We have been thinking about how we could help you, all the time. Everything what happens is because of the effect the Star Rod has on people from your home world. You can't make any more wishes without it, but the more you do it, the more you lose your memories and your identity."

"We already talked about this," Pit said. "Is that all?"

"Well, when I carried the Star Rod, nothing of that happened to me. Maybe it was because I was a resident of this world, but think about it: If it doesn't affect me like it affects you, how about you give it to me? I promise that I will lead you safely to wherever we have to go."

"No way!" Pit protested. "I see no reason to do that."

For the first time, Link was getting angry at his friend. "Pit, don't be a fool! Don't you see it can't go on like this? You have changed so much, you barely are the boy that came here to save Nintendopia."

"Thank you for worrying so much about me," Pit shouted. "But you know what? You're getting on my nerves! Palutena gave the Star Rod to ME, and I am the one who will keep it! I have changed? Well, maybe! I'm not the helpless little child I have been. You wanna have the Star Rod? Are you that jealous of me? You are my friends, but if you two keep up like this, then I don't want to be near you anymore!"

Link seemed very shocked, and Charizard's flight suddenly seemed much slower than before.

"You… you can't be serious…" Link murmured. "Pit… let's not talk about this any more, okay?"

"Well, fine!" Pit huffed. "I didn't start this."

After some time, the huge mountain Link had talked about appeared in front of him. It really looked like some sort of evil temple, and Pit could feel the aura of darkness that surrounded it. It's entrance looked very much like the face of a scary monster with one giant eye and stone snakes for hair.

"One more thing," Pit spoke up again. "I've decided not to go back to my world. I like it here in Nintendopia. And I really couldn't care less about my memories. And if Nintendopia's in danger again, I can always save it again. We don't need the other people from my world."

Suddenly, Charizard turned around and flew back the way they came.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Pit protested. "I want to take a closer look."

"I can't go on, Pit…" the fire Pokémon panted. "I'm beat… we need to go back to the camp for now."


	24. Descent into Darkness

The camp was in an uproar when they returned. When Link and Pit asked what was going on, they were being told that a group of at least fifty strange-looking wizards had come to the camp. They had purple skin and just one single eye. They somehow looked like walking eggplants. They attacked the camp, and while everyone fought bravely, they couldn't stop them from hitting the three swordsmen, Marth, Ike and Roy, with spells they fired at them with their magical wands.

"What did the spell do to them?" Pit asked, worried about his thre companions.

"They… they got turned into eggplants!" the green Koopa named Koops said with horror. "Eggplants with stubby feet and eyes, but eggplants nonetheless! Oh, the horror…"

"And afterwards, they got captured," Ruto said in a sad voice. "The Eggplant Wizards put them into a big, wooden box and carried them away. One of the wizards turned around to us and said: 'This is a message from Medusa, Queen of the Underworld, to Pit, Champion of Palutena! She demands that the so-called 'savior' surrenders and submits to her immediately and swears to serve her as her slave. If he is not willing to do that, his three friends Ike, Roy and Marth shall die a long and painful death. She will await his answer soon, as he will have only time until the next sunrise. This is the message from Medusa, Queen of the Underworld, tto Pit, Champion of Palutena!' And then he turned around and left with the others."

Pit bit his lips. Link and Charizard stared at him, and Pit knew what they were thinking. But this was not the time for that. First, they had to take care of other problems.

Pit sweatdropped. "As much as I like eggplant casserole, this is too much! Well, one thing is for sure, I will not submit to Medusa's blackmail that easily. We must try to save the three prisoners."

"That won't be easy, I'm afraid," Sabrina pointed out. Pit had never seen the Psychic Pokémon Mistress that angry… she looked very scary. "If those wizards can turn us into eggplants that easily, we can't all take them on at once. And even if you, Link and Charizard fight with us, it would take us too much time to attack Medusa's Underworld realm. Who knows what she'd do to the swordsmen?"

"Then we have to make sure she doesn't notice," Pit said decidedly. "We must surprise her."

"How can we do that?" Samus asked with a frown that was visible even behind the visor of her suit. "From what I heard, Medusa is very clever and attentive. She will expect us to attack."

"I'm afraid so, too," Knuckle Joe nodded grimly. "There are too many of us, she would notice even before we get close to the entrance of her realm. And I'm sure she has spies everywhere."

"Then we can use that to our advantage, to trick her," Pit pondered.

"What do you mean?" the diminutive martial artist asked with surprise.

"You have to keep moving into the direction we were travelling to, you and the whole caravan. Make sure that it looks like you're fleeing. We want to make her believe that we abandoned the prisoners."

"But… what about Marth, Ike and Roy?" Koops asked. "We can't just leave them behind!"

"Link, Charizard and I will take care of that," Pit explained.

"Just the three of you?"

"Yes… that is, if Link and Charizard are willing to help me. If not, I'll do it all by myself."

Murmurs of awe were going through the crowd, while Pit looked at his two friends expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"Pit…" Samus said with a smirk and shook her head. "You're the most incredible guy I've ever met. I have no doubts that this will go down in history, even if you should be unsuccessful."

"Well, are you coming with me?" Pit asked Link. "Or do you prefer to give me another of your advices?"

"No," Link said quietly. "We'll come with you."

"Okay, then the caravan has to get moving as long as the sun is still up. And remember, you must look like you were on the run. We will wait here, until night falls. We will follow you tomorrow morning - together with Marth, Ike and Roy! Now, hurry up!"

His companions nodded and a few bowed down, then they got ready to pack everything so they could leave. Pit, Link and Charizard cut down a few Piranha Plants and hid amongst their remains. Link had to reprove Charizard not to burn them down, they didn't want to start a forest fire, which would have surely gotten Medusa's attention. Some time later, the caravan left.

When it was getting dark, Pit and his two friends were still sitting in the middle of the thorny Piranha Plant vines. Suddenly, they heard some rustling, and then five of the Eggplant Wizards entered the thicket. Their huge, singular eyes looked around searchingly, then they noticed the trail of the caravan going east. Without saying anything, they turned around and followed the trail.

"Looks like it's working," Pit whispered.

"Just five of them?" Link whispered back. "Where are the others?"

"Either they feel they can take them on all by themselves, or they have some way to call for backup. Either way, we should go now."

Link nodded, and they crawled out of their hiding place. After climbing on Charizard's back, the Fire Pokémon took off into the air and flew towards the Underworld entrance. He made sure to fly very close to the ground, just so that they were out of reach of the snapping Piranha Plants.

A couple of minutes later, they could see the dark silhouette of the Underworld Gates. The rocky Medusa head looked especially spooky in the light of the setting sun. Behind its eyes, two bright fires were burning. The whole area in front of the gate was brimmed with scary-looking demons, devils and other underworld creatures. They also could see a few of the Eggplant Wizards standing next to the entrance as guards.

Link and Pit could feel how Charizard shuddered. "I don't like this…" he murmured. "It makes me feel Medusa herself is staring straight into my soul… I'm not a wimp, but I've never been worried like this before in my life. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Possibly not," Pit remarked. "But we have to save Ike and the others, so we have no choice."

Charizard grumbled something, then he softly dropped altitude, until they landed close to the gate. They had to make sure they would not be spotted, and the flaming tip of Charizard's tail was burning brightly in the dark night.

"Looks like this is the only entrance," Link whispered. "But we can't fight our way through them, there are just too many of them." He looked at the assembled underworld creatures and Eggplant Wizards with worry.

"Listen, I've got an idea," Pit said. "I will sneak inside, while you two will distract the guards. Lure them away, but don't fight them yet, okay? Keep them away from the gates as long as you can, but don't take any risks."

Link nodded and patted his back. Then Pit left into the darkness, carefully approaching the Underworld Entrance from the side.

At the edge of the Piranha Plant forest, he knelt down and peered over the small clearing in front of the gates, so he would have a good look at Link's and Charizard's performance.

He didn't have to wait for long. Suddenly, Link stepped out into the clearing and shouted: "Heya! You're looking for Pit, the Champion of Palutena? Well, I've come, but not to surrender, but to give her a last chance to free her three hostages."

Of course, that got the attention of the underworld demons. Snarling and growling, the imps, gargoyles, floating octopi and insect monsters ran, leapt and floated towards the Hylian hero. They were being followed by the Eggplant Wizards. Pit had to admire Link's slyness. Of course Medusa had never seen him before, so her monsters wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Link and him. Besides, neither of those demons looked very smart in the first place.

Pit waited a bit until all of the monsters were going after Link. Just before the first few managed to grab him with their tentacles or claws, he turned around and ran. The monsters followed him, and the next thing Pit knew was that Link was suddenly soaring above their heads, sitting on Charizard's back. The demons growled and jumped at them, trying to grab them with their limbs, and the wizards shot their spells at them. But they never hit them once.

Pit quickly ran over to the entrance and peered inside. He couldn't see anything, so he entered the long, dark tunnel that was lying behind the gates, thereby entering Medusa's realm, the Underworld.

He kept running for a while, until he reached a huge cavern, filled with a large pit, several ladders and bridges and dozens of torches that were illuminating the whole area. He could see various tunnels and shafts going in several directions.

But he knew that the Underworld was mainly a complex of caverns situated deep down below the earth, so he chose one of the shafts. Instead of climbing down the long ladders that connected many platforms of different sizes with each other, he just sprea his wings and soared down into the depths.

He had to cross several other caverns, even follow a few corridors, before he found other shafts that brought him even deeper down into the depths of the earth. More than once, he had to hide in a dark corner, so that the patroling demons didn't see him. One thing was for sure, those guys might be dangerous creatures, but they weren't very attentive guards.

Finally, he reached the deepest level of the Underworld, where he believed the prison cells to be. Apparently, all of the guards from this level had left to try and catch the pretended Champion of Palutena. There was nobody around, no man and no monster.

Pit searched around the dungeon until he finally found the chamber in which Ike, Roy and Marth were imprisoned.

The view was pitiful.

He knew it was them because they still had the same hairdo as before. He recognized Roy's spiky, flaming hair, Marth's neatly combed, blue hair and Ike's wild bush of blue. But instead of the powerful swordsmen he learned to admire, he could see a trio of struggling eggplants, with tiny feet and eyes. They were all dangling above a dark, round pit, bound by chains that were hanging from the room's ceiling.

"Look who came to save us," the red-haired eggplant said in a squeaky voice.

"We knew you wouldn't let us down, Pit!" Ike piped. "I just wissh you wouldn't see us like this…"

"Yeah, you definitely looked better," Pit nodded. "But how am I going to get you guys down from there?"

"A couple of flying demons tied us to those chains," Marth explained. "But they took the keys with them."

"Hmmm, maybe we don't need the keys…" Pit murmured. He had an idea. He took out his sacred bow and took aim.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Roy squeaked. "What are you going to do?"

Pit grinned. "Trust me!" he said… and fired his arrow.

The arrow of light flew across the pit and hit the chain that held them in the middle. Letting out high yelps of surprise, the three eggplants fell down… just to be caught by Pit, who came flying over to them with his wings. He smirked down at them while they hovered in the air.

Ike let out a sigh of relief. Then he glared up at the angel. "Don't you ever do that again, you hear me!"

Pit chuckled. "Sorry 'bout that, guys, but now let's think of a way how I can turn you back to normal." He carefully put them down on the floor nex to the chasm and freed them from the chains that were still tied around them.

Then he grabbed his bracelet and closed his eyes. "Power of the Star Rod, please help my friends…" he whispered.

A glow of light surrounded the three eggplants, and just a moment later, they were turned back into their old selves, still clad in their magnificent armors.

Marth sighed as he stood up from the ground. "Luckily, the transformation included our clothes, or else we'd stand quite naked in front of you, Pit."

"Do you have to bring that up?" Roy grumbled. "Now where are our swords?"

"Over there," Marth replied and gestured over to a wooden table. "I've seen them put them over there while they chained us to the ceiling." They walked over to the table and reached for their swords.

"I hope you still have some strength left," Pit said. "We might have to fight our way out of here."

Ike smirked. "With Ragnell at my side, I'm ready for anything." And he patted the hilt of his sword.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps and loud screeches coming down the corridor outside of the room. Pit seperated his bow into two halves and swung his blades around. "Well, here's your chance to test it! Get ready, here they come!"

And when the demons and devils of the Underworld came puring into the dungeon with bared fangs and claws, the four heroes welcomed them with their blades.


	25. Medusa's capitulation

Pit lowered his blades for now, but he kept them ready for now.

He let his gaze sweep across the room, which was littered with the unmoving bodies of countless monsters. It had been an intense battle, but for now, they were the victors.

"There's plenty more where those came from," Ike grumbled, his chest heaving. "I doubt Medusa will let us leave just like that."

"Then we must make her realize the errors of her ways," Pit said in a serious voice. "Come, we have to find her lair."

"You really wanna go further down into the Underworld?" Roy asked in disbelief.

"I'm not gonna let Medusa get away with this," Pit insisted. "Besides, why shouldn't we free this corner of Nintendopia from her reign, while we're at it?"

The three swordsmen looked at each other in surprise, then Marth grinned. "Well, I can't argue with that logic. Lead the way, sir!" And he saluted in front of his 'commander'. After a few seconds, the other two copied him.

Pit gave them a thankful nod, then they left the dungeon and went back to the Underworld's main shaft, where they could hear the sounds of another battle.

"Sounds like Link and Charizard," Roy said after hearing the Pokémon Dragon's angry roar. "They always have to be the center of attention, do they? Should we hurry and see if they need our help?"

"Nah," Pit smirked. "I think they'll do fine by themselves."

And indeed, when they reached the central shaft, Link just lowered his sword and wiped his sweaty brow, while Charizard chased off a few Eggplant Wizards that ran into a nearby tunnel.

"Well done, you two!" Pit said as he gave Link a pat on the back.

"Well, Medusa doesn't exactly seem to surround herself with the smartest monsters… you still wanna go find her?"

"Of course I do. But we might be able to find her faster than I thought." He gestured at the tunnel through which the Eggplant Wizards had fled. "My guess is that they are on their way to report to their queen… which means that Medusa's lair must be through here."

"All right, you're the leader! Lead the way!" Link shrugged.

"Follow me!" Pit said, and the others followed him through the dark tunnel.

Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel, and a passage that was modeled after Medusa's image… or rather, like a monster version of her image. The gaping mouth with the wicked teeth was the entrance to the next cavern. When they went through, they found themselves within a huge cavern that was illuminated with hundreds of candelabras. Stone and marble statues of various monsters were aligned at the walls, and at the other end, a massive throne was standing, on which Medusa herself was sitting.

The mistress of the Underworld had a beautiful figure, sure, but you could only feel pity with her that some cruel joke of nature had given her snakes instead of hair. Medusa was dressed in an elaborate robe that was adorned with glowing runes. Pit expected her to attack them on sight, but he was surprised to see that Medusa's eyes were filled with… fear.

She didn't believe any boy to be so strong that he managed to overcome all dangers of the Underworld and to face her in her own chambers.

And when Pit carefully approached her throne, she threw herself down on the floor and whispered: "My lord and master, you are the most powerful creature in Nintendopia! I was a fool to believe that I could stand up against your splendor. Palutena did well to choose you as her champion. I surrender myself to you, and if you desire to judge myself, I will accept any punishment. But if you are willing to take me as your slave, I will serve you until the days of my end."

"Stand up, Medusa!" Pit said. He wanted to show her no mercy, as he knew her to be a ruthless demon queen, but he liked what he heard from her. If she really underestimated his strength, and she willingly surrendered herself to him, now that he confronted her within her own chambers, then he should spare her life. Maybe she really was honest.

Medusa stood up and waited for his judgement.

Pit stared at her. "Are you willing to listen to every of my orders, no matter how difficult it will be for you to follow them, without any complaints?"

"I will, my Master!" Medusa said meekly. "And you will see that the two of us can do anything if we combine my magics with your might."

Roy scratched the side of his head. "Something seems fishy here…" he grumbled. "Why should the all-powerful mistress of the Underworld surrender to us just like that? Sorry, Pit, but I can't really say that I buy the image of the scared, defeated opponent that immediately volunteers to be your new servant."

"I am willing to believe her for now," Pit stated. "Every living beings deserves a second chance, and if I manage to make Medusa regret her ways, it will only be for the best. Palutena would want the same, I'm sure. Speaking of which, you will accompany us to the Palace in the Sky, where I plan to meet up with Palutena."

For a while, Medusa seemed very surprised and her eyes seemed to glow red for an instance, but as soon as Pit glared at her, she lowered her head and said: "I will comply, my Master!"

Pit nodded. "Good. Now, let's get back to the others."

They left Medusa's inner chambers and travelled back up to the surface. While they were walking along the bridges of the central shaft, no monster or demon attacked them. In fact, they didn't see a single monster on their way back up.

"Where are your servants?" Link asked. "It's kinda strange that they don't try to free you…"

"I am still the mistress of the Underworld, Hylian warrior," Medusa explained. "And I can control my servants from wherever I am. When I want them to stay out of sight and not attack us, they will comply."

"What will they all do while you're gone?" Pit asked.

"Nothing you don't want them to do," Medusa said with a short bow. "From now on, I won't do anything without your approval, my lord!"

That seemed to please Pit, but Link was eyeing the demon queen suspiciously.

They reached the exit and stepped out into the Piranha Forest. The snapping plants instantly became tame when Medusa waved her hand.

"We must try to catch up with the others," Pit said.

"They're not too far from here," Medusa explained. "I was trying to mislead them a bit."

"For the last time," Pit said.

"For the last time, Master!" Medusa nodded. "But how do you plan on going after them? On foot, through this forest?"

"Charizard will take us," Pit decided. "He is strong enough to carry three of us. Ike, you, Marth and Roy will follow us on foot."

The three swordsmen nodded, but Charizard glared at the demon queen with fiery eyes. "I am strong enough to carry three persons," he growled. "But I won't carry that hag on my back!"

"You will do it, because I want you to do it!" Pit said sternly.

Charizard still didn't want to comply, but when he looked at Link, the Hylian hero gave him a short nod, and reluctantly, he allowed them to sit on his back?"

"Where to?" he asked.

"Just fly straight ahead," Medusa said.

"What was that?" Charizard snarled. "I'm afraid I couldn't quite understand you…"

"Straight ahead, and stop fooling around, you heard her perfectly fine!" Pit shouted angrily.

"Just do it," Link whispered, and Charizard complied.

----

About half an hour later, they landed next to the huge camp. A large number of campfires were burning in the night, and the number of followers seemed to have increased.

Bounty hunter Samus Aran was the first one to notice Pit and the others, and she welcomed them back, even if she was eyeing Medusa carefully. Right now, she was once again wearing what she called her 'Zero Suit'.

"How many newcomers did arrive while I was away?" Pit asked her.

"Well, we weren't really able to count them all, but I'm pretty sure that by now, there are more than thousands of people following you. By the way, there's something else I wanted to tell you: Just a short time ago, we saw how five of those Eggplant Wizards arrived. But they didn't attack anyone and they stayed out of the camp, so we decided to leave them in peace for now. They were also carrying what looked like a sedan chair."

Pit looked at Medusa.

"They are my carriers," Medusa explained. "After you accepted me as your slave, I told them to go ahead and wait for me near the camp of your followers. It is the most pleasant way to travel, if you allow it."

"Very well, as long as you remember to tell me about all of your decisions from now on. Also, if you want them to do anything besides carrying you, tell me about it, got it?"

Medusa bowed her head, but Link frowned. "I don't like this…" he murmured.

"Now what's wrong?" Pit sighed.

"Don't you think it's strange that those wizards managed to get here in such a short amount of time, while we flew on Charizard's back? She must have sent here before we arrived in her throne room, which means she has planned all of this."

"Oh, for the sake of… Link, all of your worrying is making me sick! Stop questioning me already! I won against Medusa fair and square, or do you want to tell me that I could have never won by myself?"

Link and Charizard looked at each other in surprise. Link opened his mouth to say something else, but Pit didn't let him: "Stop it! Shut up and leave me alone! If you two don't like what I'm doing, then leave and don't bother me anymore! I can't take it anymore!"

And he crossed his arms and turned his back to Link and Charizard, in front of all their followers. Samus and the others stared at the scene in surprise.

For a while, Link just stood there and looked at the young angel. He waited, but as Pit didn't seem to turn back to look at him, he just turned around and left. Charizard followed him.

Medusa smiled.

But by now, Pit had completely forgotten that he had ever been a small, weak child in his own world.


	26. Kaepora Gaebora

Steadily, more and more delegates from all parts of Nintendopia came to join Pit's caravan of followers, all of them willing to accompany him on his journey to the Palace in the Sky. Several thousands of beings was on their way through the land, and it was a curious sight indeed. Since all of Pit's followers were members of hundreds of different races, there were many different sorts of tents and wagons everywhere in his camp.

Still, the tent that was given as a present for Pit was the most glorious one. It was a brilliant white, and it was adorned with two angel's wings next to the Bow of Palutena. It was always standing in the middle, and Samus Aran, who had become something like Pit's personal bodyguard, was always standing next to its entrance.

Link and Charizard mostly stayed amongst themselves, after Pit reprimanded them in front of the others. But they still were part of the caravan, as neither of them was willing to abandon their friend. Still, they didn't come to talk to him, and that made Pit a bit angry. After all, he did nothing wrong, so it should be Link who should come back to him to ask for forgiveness.

When they were en route, Pit was usually riding in front of everyone else, on top of his trusty friend Yoshi, while Link and Charizard preferred to stay behind. Charizard didn't even seem to like flying anymore.

But every now and then, Pit decided to join Medusa in her sedan chair. She always welcomed him by leaving her seat to him, and sitting down on the floor herself, to his feet. She at least seemed to know her place, as she never did anything that would upset him. He was especially glad that she avoided talking about his former life, before he came to Nintendopia.

One day, when he joined her, Medusa asked him: "Do you really like being carried by a mere Yoshi?"

"Of course I do," Pit said with a frown. "What's not to like? Yoshi is a good friend, and he's glad that he can carry me."

"So you say you're doing it because he wants you to?"

"What's it to you?" Pit grumbled, not liking where the covnersation was headed.

"Oh, nothing!" Medusa said meekly, bowing down her head. "Far be it from me to question your actions. But if you allow me to say this, I believe you're caring too much about others. If you would listen to my advice: Concentrate more on your superiority!"

"Yoshi is my friend," Pit said as he stared down at her.

"Of course, of course! But… it pains me to see you on the back of such a… common mount. All of your followers are curious about this. You seem to be the only one who doesn't seem to notice."

Pit didn't reply, but Medusa's words made him ponder.

The next day, Pit's army of followers was marching through a warm area with gentle hills and beautiful meadows. During their midday rest, he went to talk to Yoshi.

"Listen up, Yoshi," he said. "I think it's time for us to say goodbye."

Yoshi let out a mournful cry. "Why, Pit?" he whined. "Did I do my job so bad?"

"That's not it," Pit tried to explain. "On the contrary, during our journey, you were perhaps the best friend I could have ever asked for, and you carried me through all difficulties without any complaints. I believe it's time that you take a rest. Actually, I believe you'll be happy if you hear what's waiting for you when you decide to stay here."

"I don't want anything," the green dinosaur sniffled. "I only wanna carry you. What else could I wish for?"

"Listen, Yoshi, there's something you need to know," Pit said as he knelt down next to his friend. On his wrist, the golden rings of the Star Rod were glowing softly, but Yoshi didn't notice. "You should know that for the last few days, there was a pink, female Yoshi following our caravan. She saw you from afar and was instantly smitten with you. She wanted to get to know you, but she was afraid from all these different creatures around you. So she stayed close and waited for the right moment so she could tell you just how much she's in love with you."

"With me?" Yoshi asked, surprised and shocked. "B-but I'm just a regular Yoshi… I wasn't even born in the wilderness, I hatched within a Cornerian stable…"

"That doesn't matter to her. In her eyes, you are the most handsome guy she has ever seen in her life. You have to go to her, or her yearning will make her heart shatter."

"Oh my…" Yoshi murmured. "It's that bad?"

"Yes, it is," Pit whispered. "But it is your decision, Yoshi. You can stay with me… or you can go to her and start a new life of freedom and joy."

Yoshi seemed uncertain, but finally, he started walking. After he had taken a few steps, he turned around and said: "To be honest… I'm a bit scared."

"That's understandable!" Pit smiled. "After all, you never have been on your own by yourself. But it's going to be just fine, trust me! And don't forget to tell your children from me."

That last part was what tipped the scales. Yoshi nodded one last time, turned around and ran out of the camp, never looking back again.

Pit sighed deeply, and a small tear came trickling down his cheek. "It's for the best," he tried to tell himself. "He will be happy…"

As for Yoshi, he really found the pink Yoshi and fell in love with her too. After becoming her life mate, they had many Yoshi eggs together. One of their sons would become a very famous Yoshi throughout Nintendopia history, but that's another story.

----

From that day on, Pit journeyed in Medusa's sedan chair. Together, they went ahead of the enormous army of followers that walked after them. The Eggplant Wizards carried them without complaints, and Samus Aran was always close to them, keeping a strict eye on the former Queen of the Underworld.

The following night, a new wish was appearing in Pit's heart. He had seen so many things and wonderful creatures, and had adventures in several parts of Nintendopia, but somehow, he wasn't satisfied. Something was amiss, and he couldn't place his finger on it. He was still upset about Link and Charizard, but that couldn't be it, could it?

Being a great hero and powerful fighter was one thing. But he was sick of being admired for the very same reasons every day. There had to be more than just being strong and famous. And then he got it: He wanted to be admired for being a wise man, maybe even as wise as Palutena herself. That was his new wish!

Several minutes later, he stepped out of his tent. The huge camp was spread in a deep valley that was surrounded by high mountains. Several small woods were surrounding them. The night was unusually clear and the stars were shining down on them. Then, Pit saw something on the highest peak of the mountain he was looking at. It looked like some sort of temple, and it was obvious that somebody was living up there, as he could see a soft light coming from up there.

Samus stepped next to him. "What could that be?" she asked, gesturing up to the building.

Pit shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't look like anything I have seen before, but…"

Before he could say anything else, they heard a strange sound coming from above. Surprised, they watched as a group of six winged beings came flying at them, coming from the temple on the peak.

"They look like… owls!" Pit murmured. "But they are so big… I've never seen owls big as that before."

The owls landed in front of them, and now Pit could see that there were six of the immense birds. The largest one stepped forth, and his eyes were gleaming in the darkness.

"Greetings, travellers!" the owl said. "We are messengers from the Oracle Sanctuary which you can see on the summit of Mt. Crenel. My name is Kaepora Gaebora, a servant of the oracle, Nayru."

"What kind of place is that sanctuary?" Pit asked.

"It is a place of wisdom, home to the three oracles! Up there, they are teaching young Nintendopians all about their wisdom of the Ages, the Seasons and all of the Secrets of Nintendopia they know about."

"And who is Nayru?" Pit asked. "I thought that was the name of the Goddess of Wisdom."

"Nayru is the Oracle of Ages," the wise owl explained. "She was named after the goddess. She always sends her messengers in the night. Would it be day, Din, the Oracle of Seasons would have sent her messengers, the monkeys. And in the twilight between day and night, Farore, the Oracle of Secrets, would have sent her messengers, the Keaton Foxes."

"So, and what are you looking for?"

"We are looking for the Great Sage," Kaepora Gaebora explained. "The three oracles know that he is staying in this tent town and ask him for a visit in their sanctuary."

"Who's that supposed to be?" Pit frowned. "This 'Great Sage'?"

"He is also known as the champion of the goddess Palutena, but his true name is Pit."

"You have found him," Pit explained. "I am Pit."

At once, the owls bowed down their big heads in front of him.

"The three oracles beg for your visit in our sanctuary," Kaepora repeated. "They are hoping that you have the answer for their question, an answer they have been looking for all their lives."

Pit thought about it and rubbed his chin. "Fine," he finally said. "But I want to take my two own disciples along with me."

"That should be no problem," the owl said. "There are six of us, two of us can carry a person each."

Pit turned to Samus. "Please, tell Link and Medusa that I want to see them."

The bounty hunter nodded and quickly left.

"What kind of question is it that they want to ask me?" Pit asked the owls.

"Sir, we are just Nayru's messengers and cannot speak of this. The oracles prefer to ask you their question themselves."

Shortly afterwards, Samus came back with Link and Medusa. Pit explained them where they were going to.

Link looked at Pit and finally asked him: "Why me?"

"Indeed," Medusa raised an eyebrow. "Why him?"

"I will tell you in time," Pit said impatiently. "Now let's get going!"

Three of the owls were carrying swings which they were holding in their claws. While two owls each held the ends of one swing, Pit and his two companions could sit down on them as the huge birds flapped their wings and rose off the ground.

"Tell the others where we are and that we'll be back soon," Pit shouted to Samus as she stayed behind. Samus nodded, and the six owls and their passengers flew off into the night.


	27. The Oracle Sanctuary

Arriving in the huge, circular chamber underneath the massive dome of the Oracle Sanctuary, Pit, Link and Medusa were faced with a large number of monks, all of them the followers of the three oracles, Nayru, Farore and Din. While they were members of all kinds of different races, they all were wearing dark, brown robes, no matter what size or body shape they had.

The three oracles were young, beautiful women that sat on three big chairs in the center of the room, right underneath the middle of the massive dome. Din, who was sitting in the middle, looked dark-tanned and exotic. Nayru, who sat to her left, was elegant and demure. Farore, who was sitting on the right, was cute and energetic.

Pit stepped in front of the three oracles, and Din raised her hand. Instantly, the murmuring monks settled down. She gestured at an empty chair standing in front of them. Pit sat down, and Medusa and Link stood behind him.

Then Din started to talk: "Ever since we started to teach residents of Nintendopia in our goddesses ways, the three of us have been brooding over a certain problem. Nayru says her goddess gives her the wisdom to know best. Farore says that as the Oracle of Secrets, she should know the best. And I say that while observing the constant changing of the seasons, I have gained much knowledge as well. But still, neither of us really does know. Therefore we invited you, the Great Sage, to ask you if you could tell us the solution to the big secret we are brooding over. Will you help us?"

"I will," Pit nodded.

"So hear our question, Great Sage: What is Nintendopia?"

For a while, Pit stayed silent, then he answered: "Nintendopia is the Neverending Game."

"Please give us time to understand your answer," Din said. "We will meet here again, tomorrow night, at the same hour."

Silently, all of the monks stood up and left. Pit and his companions were being lead to guest rooms. Their beds were simple, wooden pallets with woolen blankets. Pit and Link certainly didn't mind that, only Medusa would have loved to conjure up her own bed. But she realized quickly that her magic didn't work in this sanctuary.

In the following night, at the same point of time, they all met again within the great hall underneath the dome. Once again, Pit was sitting in front of the three oracles.

"We thought about your answer, Great Sage!" This time, it was Nayru who spoke. "Now we have a new question. If Nintendopia is the Neverending Game, what kind of game is it?"

Again, Pit waited a bit before he answered: "It is a game for the Wii Console from Nintendo."

"Please give us time to understand your answer," Nayru asked. "We will meet again tomorrow night, in this hall."

Again, everyone left to sleep. In the following night, it was Farore, Oracle of Secrets, who spoke:

"Again we pondered over your question, Great Sage, and again we are faced with a new question: If our world Nintendopia is a game for the Wii Console… where is this console standing? Where is the game being played?"

And after a few seconds, Pit replied: "In the room of a normal, human boy."

Not even once did he remember the fact that he had been this boy once.

"Great Sage!" Farore spoke up. "We have no reason not to question the truth in your words, but still we ask of you: Can you show it to us?"

Pit thought about it for a while, then he nodded. "I think I can do it."

Link looked at Pit with surprise. Even Medusa had a gaze of wondering in her deep eyes.

"We will meet again tomorrow night," Pit said. "But not here in this hall, but on the roof of the Oracle Sanctuary. And you will have to watch the sky very closely."

In the following night – which was as clear as the two previous ones – all of the monks, as well as the three oracles, were gathering on the rooftops of the sanctuary and looked at the sky above them, while holding their breaths.

Pit flew up to the highest point of the dome and looked around… and then, he could see, for the first time, the Palace in the Sky, far away at the horizon, shimmering in the moonlight.

He pulled the Spell Stone out of his pocket, the very same, which he received from Beltino Toad and General Pepper. He did not know the true origins of this stone, but he assumed that he had to come from outer space. And Beltino said that a great, magical force was in it, didn't he? So he would just use that power for his own purposes.

He raised the Spell Stone high above his head and concentrated. The stone shone brightly and added its own powers to those of the Star Rod. Together, those two forces were big enough to temporarily open a rift between the two worlds, and all across the night sky, a shimmering image appeared before the astonished eyes of the monks and oracles.

And that image was the image of Pit's very own bedroom. And in front of their eyes, they also could see the TV set, the Nintendo Wii and the case of the game 'The Neverending Game'.

And then it was over. The Spell Stone's power was used up, and it had vanished without a trace. The huge image in the sky vanished, and the night was as dark as before.

Shaken and appalled by the vision, they all returned back to the big hall underneath the dome. When everyone was inside, and Pit was once again standing in front of the oracles, Din rose from her seat.

"There are no words we could use to thank you, Great Sage," she said. "You indeed gave us enlightenment with that vision, especially for me, as I could see the emblem of my goddess on that game case… the symbol of strength!"

"You are wrong," Nayru said with a gentle smile. "I could clearly see that it was the symbol of wisdom."

"You two should look more closely the next time we get such a vision," Farore said with a smirk. "Because I could see that the symbol was the symbol of courage!"

"Here we are again," Din sighed. "Only you can answer that question, Great Sage! Which one of us is right?"

Pit smiled and said: "All of you."

"Please give us time to think about your answer," Nayru said.

"Yes," Pit nodded. "As much time as you want, as I'm going to leave you now."

The three oracles and their monks were clearly disappointed, but Pit declined politely when they asked him to stay for a longer time… hopefully even forever! But when they realized that they could not persuade him, he and his two companions were being lead outside, and the owls brought them back to his camp.

When Pit went to sleep this night, he completely forgot that he had ever visited a school, and even the game itself, the store he found it in and the nice Mr. Hando were completely wiped out of his memory. And he didn't even wonder how he arrived in Nintendopia anymore.

----


	28. The Banishment

Now they were coming pretty close to the Palace in the Sky. They should be able to reach it in two or three days of travel.

Although, Pit seemed uncertain. Sometimes, he ordered to stop and take a break, then, suddenly, he ordered to go on pretty quickly. Nobody really knew what was wrong with him. Not even Link and Charizard, and neither Samus or even Medusa. After what happened in the Sanctuary, no one really could understand what was going on inside the angel boy. Link just knew that he was worried about his friend, very worried indeed.

Pit was bothered by two things. On the one hand, he was looking forward to seeing Palutena again. Now all of Nintendopia knew him to be a formidable hero, a powerful leader and a wise sage. He could stand in front of her as an equal.

On the other hand, he was afraid that he would have to give the Star Rod back to her. And with it, all of his powers. He would be a normal guy again… and right now, that was what he was most afraid of. He wanted to keep everything! Then again he pondered that she might just allow him to keep it, and that there might be no reason to worry. In such a case, he drove his people on to hurry up. But as soon as they were on route, his worries started to come back, and they stopped again.

Still they managed to reach the foot of Mt. Olympus, the majestic mountain underneath the floating palace… a truly wonderful sight to behold!

Pit sighed when he saw the beautiful clouds that were floating around its peak and the palace itself. The sunrays that broke through them seemed like rays of hope to him. And he was not the only one to stare at the scene with awe. Most of his followers have never seen the Palace in the Sky before, and even Medusa was speechless for a very short while.

Pit decided to set up camp for today. It was already getting dark, they would never be able to scale the mountain and reach the palace before nightfall. He ordered a few messengers to run ahead and bring Palutena his greetings, so she could prepare for their arrival. Then he went into his tent.

At midnight, he woke up because of a small commotion in front of his tent. He went outside and saw how Samus was talking to a pelican, one of the messengers he had sent to the palace. It was a resident of one of the so-called 'Animal Villages' in the south, where most animals were able to gain intelligence and a humanoid shape. This pelican was named Pelly.

"What's the problem here?" he asked.

"This girl…" Samus gestured at the pelican. "Insists on seeing you, Pit! She keeps telling me that she has important news, but she wants to tell them to you in person."

"It's okay," Pit nodded and turned to Pelly. "What's so important that you can't wait until dawn?"

"I'm terribly sorry, sir!" the female pelican said as she bowed down to the ground. "But I thought you might want to hear this: The Queen, Palutena… she isn't in the Palace in the Sky! She hasn't been there for a long time, and nobody knows where she could be."

Pit froze. "That can't be!" he murmured. "You must be wrong!"

Pelly bowed again. "The other messengers will confirm it when they return, ssir!"

For a while, Pit stayed silent. Then he said: "Okay, you can go." He turned around and entered his tent.

He was surprised to see Medusa inside. "What are you doing here?"

The snake-haired mistress of the Underworld smiled. "Oh, I can always go if my presence bothers you. I just thought you might be pleased with my company."

Pit sighed. "Do what you want, stay or leave, I don't care!" And he lay down on his pillows.

Medusa moved closer to his side. "Is something bothering you, my master?"

"It's Palutena…" Pit murmured. He didn't notice how Medusa flinched upon hearing that name. "She isn't in her palace anymore, and I don't know what to do… if I only could ask Link for his advice. But.. I don't know if he and Charizard are still angry with me."

"You really should stop caring about that peasant's opinion, master!" Medusa said. "All he has to offer you are misguidance and false friendship."

Pit glared at her. "You are the ruler of the Underworld! What do YOU know about friendship?"

"Maybe more than anyone else," Medusa replied with a sly glint in her eyes. "Listen to me, I know Link and that brutal fire Pokémon of his are planning your downfall! At this very moment, they plan on usurp the powers you acquired."

"Stop accusing them at once!" Pit shouted as he jumped to his feet. Furiously, he glared at the demon queen. "You know nothing about them!"

"I am trembling in front of you, master!" Medusa cried as she threw herself to the floor in front of him. "But please believe me, I only want to save you from their scams! I can prove it, too."

"Then prove it!" Pit shouted. "Prove it or leave my tent at once!"

"My master, please accept this," Medusa said as she pulled something out from under her toga. It was a silken piece of cloth that felt very smooth under Pit's fingers. It was colored a crimson red.

"What is this?" Pit wondered.

"It is a magical cloak, master!" Medusa explained. "It can turn you invisible. Shielded from the view of prying gazers, you can sneak underneath their noses and they would never know. With this, you can listen to everything your so-called friends talk about, and they wouldn't see you."

Pit stared down at the magical artifact in his hands, then he sat down. "Leave me!" he told the gorgon. "I need to think…"

"Of course, my master!" Medusa said in the sweetest voice she could muster.

Pit pondered over his current situation. He just couldn't believe what Medusa had told him. Link, a traitor? He didn't believe it!

But Palutena was gone, and that meant he could keep the Star Rod for now. He felt relief upon that realization. Still, he felt grieved that she would abandon him like this. Then again, Link told him that everyone only met her once in his life, didn't he?

Pit decided to pay his old friend a visit… but he didn't want to just face him like that. He still was a bit angry at Link and Charizard, and he was too proud to admit that he could have talked to them earlier.

So he decided to make use of the cloak which Medusa had given him. He wrapped the magical piece of cloth around his shoulders, and instantly, he turned invisible. He walked out of his tent, and Samus never noticed him. All around him, the members of his army were murmuring with each other, but he paid them no attention. He only wanted to find Link and Charizard.

He finally found them on a secluded clearing, away from the busy campsite. Here, they were sitting next to a campfire (without any doubt made by Charizard).

Link was looking at the ground and sighed. "I hoped she could bring him to terms," he murmured. "But now I see no hope…"

"She'll know what she's doing," Charizard grumbled in his deep voice.

"Does she really? It can't go on like this! He can't keep the Star Rod any longer."

"So what do you want to do?" Charizard growled. "He won't give it to you just like that."

"I have to take it away from him!"

Pit froze when he heard those words.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Charizard asked. "Even if you had it, it wouldn't protect you from the other gifts Palutena gave to him. His strength, his speed and his sacred bow."

"I don't know," Link said grimly. "But I have to do it."

Charizard chuckled. "And he even asked you if you wanted to have it, back when we were still in Corneria, remember?"

Link nodded. "Yes, but back then, I didn't know how things would turn out. Had I known what happened…"

"So what is your plan?"

"I have to steal it," Link said.

Charizard stared at his friend with fiery eyes. "Are… are you serious?"

Link nodded fiercely. "I have to! There's no other choice!"

"And… when do you want to do it?"

"Tonight," Link replied. "It may be too late if I wait until tomorrow."

Pit didn't want to hear anything else. He left them behind. He felt nothing but a cold emptiness within his heart. Now they all had abandoned him. Palutena… she didn't want to see him again! His best friend… a traitor!

He went back into his tent and took off the magic cloak. He remembered what Medusa told him, and realized that she had predicted everything just as it had happened. Only she was truly devoted to his cause, he could see that now. But there was still the slight possibility that Link reconsidered his plans and decided not to do what he had said. And Pit was willing to give him a fair chance.

He told Samus to call for the three swordsmen – Ike, Marth and Roy. When they came, he ordered them to guard his tent for tonight and to arrest anyone who should come in to steal. Ike, Marth and Roy nodded and made themselves comfortable.

Then, Pit walked over to Medusa's sedan chair, where the enchantress was resting. She was sleeping and the air was filled with her gentle snoozes. Around her, her Eggplant Wizards were standing.

Pit walked up to the lead wizard. "I want you to obey me," he said quietly.

The wizard saluted. "At your command, Master of our Mistress!"

"Do you believe all of you could take on the Fire Pokémon, Charizard?"

"It might be difficult," the Eggplant Wizard said while scratching his oval head. "As you might know, we are plant creatures, and therefore weak against fire. If I may suggest to use a more powerful servant in our mistress' service…"

"Did she bring someone besides you?" Pit asked with surprise.

"She could always summon one of her minions," the wizard explained. "And as you are her master, you should be able to do the same."

"So what kind of minion do you suggest?" Pit asked.

"I recommend the Darknuts," the Eggplant Wizard said. "Powerful, animated and living armor, they never grow tired and fear nothing."

"Good enough," Pit nodded. "Can you take care of this? Tell them to go close to him and arrest him as soon as Link leaves him. I want them to stay with him, but not harm him. Just make sure he doesn't escape."

"I will comply, Master of my Mistress!" the wizard said and bowed.

Pit walked back to his tent and flew up into the branches of a nearby tree. Here he would wait and watch what would happen.

The sun rose behind the horizon, and he didn't have to wait much longer. Loud voices suddenly came from inside his tent, and shortly afterwards, Ike, Marth and Roy came out of the tent. Roy gave Link, who was walking in front of them, a shove. He was disarmed. The Master Sword and Hylian Shield were both being carried by Ike.

Pit sighed. "So Medusa was right after all…" he murmured.

He flew down and faced Link. The Hylian boy couldn't look into his face.

Pit called for Samus. "Go and wake everybody!" he told her. "I want them all to gather here, and Medusa's minions shall bring Charizard with them. Hurry!"

The bounty hunter nodded, although she was confused when she saw how Marth tied Link's hands behind his back.

"He didn't even fight back," Roy grumbled as he glared at Link.

When Charizard was brought to Pit's tent, a huge crowd had already assembled. The tall, armored Darknut knights surrounded Charizard from all sides. His wings were tied up, just like Link's hands were. The Darknuts watched him carefully with glowing, red eyes and drawn blades.

"He didn't even fight back, Master of our Mistress!" said the head Eggplant Wizard, who had accompanied them.

Charizard sat down next to Link and closed his eyes. The flame on his tail was very dim.

It was getting very quiet. Pit waited until everyone was assembled. The only one who didn't come was Medusa.

He stood up and glared at his two former friends. "Link," he said in an icy tone of voice. "You have planned to steal the Star Rod from me, the holy artifact which Palutena entrusted me with. And you, Charizard, knew of it. You planned with him. Both of you have not only betrayed your Queen, but also our friendship. Do you plead guilty?"

Link looked at Pit for a long time, then he nodded.

"I do remember that it was you who brought me to Palutena," Pit said. "And I also remember Charizard's fireworks in Corneria. Therefore, I will spare your lives. You are free to go. But beware of ever coming back! Hereby, I declare you outlaws! Go away and never come back! I don't want to see you again, ever! I never knew you!"

He ordered Roy to take off Link's and Charizard's bounds, and then he turned around and sat down on a rock.

Link looked like he wanted to say something, but he then changed his mind. He whispered something into Charizard's ear, and the Pokémon spread his wings. Link climbed on his back, and they flew away.

Pit didn't look after them. He felt very tired and walked back into his tent.

"Now you really are the greatest being in all of Nintendopia," someone said quietly. "No one will ever dare to question you."

Pit looked at Medusa, who was sitting in the darkest corner of the tent. He frowned at her, but sat down anyways.

"What is on your mind, master?" she asked. Pit laid down and turned away from her. He didn't feel like talking to anyone.

Medusa knew that she couldn't just leave him alone, not now. She would have to keep close to him, so that he would still do what she told him. She had to cheer him up… in her own, twisted way, of course.

She went over to him and whispered: "When do you plan on going to the Palace in the Sky, my master?"

"I don't know," Pit groaned into his pillow. "What can I do, now that Palutena's gone? I don't know what to do anymore…"

"You could still go there and wait for her, she might return."

Pit turned around and looked at the sorceress hopefully. "Do you… believe she will return some day?"

Medusa hesitated before answering: "To be honest, I doubt it. You have become as big as she had once been, so I believe that she has left Nintendopia… and that you might be her successor!"

Pit slowly stood up. "Me?" he murmured.

"Why not you?" Medusa smirked. "She gave you her most powerful artifact. She helped you become the most famous creature in our world. She left her domicile, so you could claim it as your own. It is your right, after all! You not only saved us, you practically recreated our lives! You are the Great Savior, the Champion of Nintendopia, the Great sage, why do you hesitate, now that all you have to do is to reach out and take, what is rightfully yours?"

Pit imagined it, a Nintendopia in which he could do whatever he wanted. Dull, he remembered his wish of playing the ultimate game… a game in which he could control everything! Wasn't that his only true wish?

The same day, they broke up their camp and the giant army marched towards Mt. Olympus, and the Palace in the Sky, which was floating above.


	29. The Battle for Mount Olympus

The same day, Pit commanded to break up the camp, and he and his army of followers ascended the heights of Mt. Olympus. In the evening, they reached mountaintop. The residents of the palace welcomed him with all the festivities he could wish for. Every single member of Palutena's royal household was there to welcome their hero, the champion of their Queen. Trumpets were blown, drums were beaten, flowers were being strawn in front of him and everyone cheered him on.

One after another, Pit and his closest followers entered the floating, magical elevator that brought them to the actual palace. And in here, the ministers and dignitaries lead him through all the halls and corridors, until they reached their final goal: The welcoming room in front of Palutena's personal chambers.

Still, the giant marble wings in front of the doors didn't budge, no matter how often Pit tried to push them. He turned around to face one of the oldest counselors of the Queen. "Bring me all the craftsmen and artisans you can find and make them open this door somehow. I plan to make my home there."

"B-but my lord," the counselor protested. "That's where our beloved Queen lives, when she is with us…"

"Do as you're told!" Pit commanded. The counselors paled and backed off rom him. Then they hastily nodded and ran to get the craftsmen he had called for. But with all their tools, they didn't manage to even dent the doors.

"Try to come up with something else, I want in there! But keep in mind that my patience might be coming to an end."

Then he turned back to his personal guardians Ike, Marth, Roy, Samus and Medusa, and together, they followed the servants to the most luxurious guest bedrooms.

The same night, he called a meeting with the highest ministers, counselors and nobles that had previously served Palutena, in the same room in which the meeting between the doctors had taken place, during the time of the Queen's illness.

"I will take over as the King of Nintendopia," he told them. "Palutena left her endless realm to me, so I can guide all of her creatures into a better future! I demand complete and absolute obedience, even if might not always understand my decisions. And that is because I am not like any of you!"

Then he decided that he would be crowned to the new king of Nintendopia in seventy-seven days. He wanted to have a festival that would be more glamorous and splendorous than everything Nintendopia had ever seen before. He also commanded to send out messengers to every race of his new realm, so they would send delegates to his coronation.

Then he walked out of the room and left the counselors and ministers in their confusion. They really didn't know how they were supposed to act. Everything they had heard sounded so unbelievable and outrageous that at first, they weren't able to react at all. But then they began to discuss everything Pit had told them. And in the end, they agreed that they would have to do as Pit wished, since he was carrying the Star Rod, Palutena's sign of authority. Their own, little opinions didn't count in this matter.

So they sent the messengers and prepared everything for the coronation festivities. Pit himself didn't bother with anything of the preparations, he left it to Medusa to schedule everything. She knew how to make the inhabitants of the palace listen to her orders.

Over the following days and weeks, Pit just sat inside the room he had chosen to be his temporary domicile and brooded. He just sat there and didn't anything. He would have liked to wish for something exciting, but his mind was completely empty. All he wanted was that Palutena came back, so he tried wishing for her.

He tried to invoke the Star Rod's powers and whispered: "Palutena, come back! I wish that you would come back to me… Come back, I order you to come back!"

But she didn't come.

He told himself again and again that everything would be all right as soon as he managed to enter her personal chamber. Again and again he ran up to the workers and tried to make them work harder. Sometimes he begged them to worker, sometimes he tried it with threats, another time with promises… but nothing they did could open the doors, not even magical tools.

And so, the day of the coronation drew closer and closer.

The first of the messengers came back. Many reported that the leaders of the countries they had visited agreed to send some emissaries, but a few also said that certain inhabitants of Nintendopia refused to come.

Medusa smiled when she heard of this. "You will clean up all of these rebels as soon as you're the king," she said.

"I want them to want what I want…" Pit whispered angrily.

And then the big day arrived: The day of the coronation that was never meant to be, and the day that would be go down in history as the day of the most bloody battle that had ever been fought around Mt. Olympus.

Medusa and the masters of ceremony had prepared a festival program that was supposed to surpass everything Nintendopia had seen before. Early in the morning, the first musicians started to play their instruments, and all of the people who heard it danced and sang. The whole palace and the region around Mt. Olympus was decorated with the most colorful flags, flowers and pictures of Pit's face.

A long procession came walking up the path of the steep mountain. Medusa had chosen the mountaintop to be the place of coronation. Her Darknut knights stood in every corner like menacing statues that could come to life every second. She told Pit that they were supposed to ensure his safety. Nobody except herself knew how she managed to centuple the small group of Darknuts that had accompanied her.

An impressive throne that looked like it was made of glass was standing in the center of the ceremony circle. Pit then came flying down from the Palace in the Sky on his angelic wings, softly landed and looked at all the visitors from all over Nintendopia. He walked over to the throne and sat down on the red velvet cushion. The crowd erupted in cheers.

Then the most ardous and tedious part of the ceremony began: A long line of emissaries from the other countries of Nintendopia was aligned in front of the throne, and one after another, they began to swear loyalty to their new king. Every single one had to come up to the throne, fall down to the floor, touch the floor with his head, kiss Pit's right foot and say: "In the name of my people, I ask the hero who we all owe our lives to become our king!"

After two or three hours have passed, something happened. The crowd became agitated when a small messenger, a Waddle Dee from the faraway Dream Land, came running past all the emissaries. He fell down in front of Pit and panted heavily.

"Who are you?" Pit asked. "How dare you interrupt this ceremony?"

"It's war, my lord!" the Waddle Dee gasped. "Link has rallied many rebels that refuse to follow you… they are on their way here, with three armies! They demand you hand over the Star Rod, and if you refuse to do it, they want to take it… by force!"

Everything was dead silent after this revelation. There was no more music, so singing and no cheers. Pit just stared ahead. His face was all pale.

The hands of Marth, Ike and Roy wandered to the hilts of their swords. "Finally, we get our chance to prove ourselves!" Roy smirked.

Several of the guests didn't know at all how to fight, but the majority actually knew how to use at least some kind of weapon, with a sword, a mace, a spear, a bow, a slingshot or just with their claws and teeth. All those agreed to protect their new king against the approaching rebels. While they left to welcome the enemy armies, Pit and his personal guardians stayed behind, in the Palace in the Sky.

Looking out of a window, Pit let his gaze sweep across the land. He frowned when he saw the massive dust clouds at the horizon, indicating the arrival of Link's armies. It had to be hundreds of warriors.

"Don't worry!" Medusa smirked. "As soon as my Darknut warriors enter the fray, those rebels will be on the run, you'll see!"

Shortly afterwards, the first reports of Link's forces arrived. Almost all Hylians of Hyrule fought on his side, as well as the Kongs of Kongo Island, a squadron of space mercenaries, and at least two hundred human warriors. A huge amount of wild Pokémon was under Charizard's command, and he and his flying brethren circled above the battlefields.

Pit wanted to join the battle, but Medusa advised him to stay back, where he was safe. When the first of Link's armies managed to reach the foot of Mt. Olympus, she sent her Darknuts into battle.

The rest of the day became a chaotic maelstrom of clashing steel, roaring creatures, flashing laser weapons and torrents of blood. Many of the different cultures of Nintendopia have their own versions of this enormous battle, but all of these are different stories.

The battle was still on when night fell and covered everything in black. But the flames that were blazing up from the besieged palace illuminated the whole scenery, the whole warzone Mt. Olympus had become. Parts of the palace had already been reduced to rubble, many of Link's followers had managed to invade the big halls and kept on fighting inside.

Pit hurried through the innermost chambers, until he reached the room in front of Palutena's chambers. In spite of everything that happened, the beautiful marble wings in front of the door were still intact.

Pit raised his bow and looked around. "Link!" he shouted. "Where are you? Show yourself!"

Finally, Link entered the room, coming through the same door as Pit. He was wearing a magical armor, carried a shield with a surface that reflected the light of the dancing fires, and wielded the Master Sword.

They stood in front of each other, staring into each other's eyes. Pit tried to summon an arrow of light he could aim at Link, but Palutena's Bow did not respond.

Link raised his blade. "Give me the Star Rod," he said. "For your own sake!"

"You traitor!" Pit spat. "You are one of my creatures! All of you just exist because of me! You are resisting me? To your knees and beg for mercy!"

"You are crazy," the Hyrulean warrior shook his head. "You never created anything. Everything you have you owe Palutena. Give me the Star Rod!"

"Come and get it… if you have the courage!" Pit whispered.

Link hesitated. "Pit… why are you forcing me to fight you?"

Pit had heard enough. Once agin, he tried to call upon the powers of the bow. He focussed his will, channeled it through the Star Rod and into Palutena's Bow. A glowing arrow appeared… but it was glowing in a dark, eerie light and was surrounded by a cloud of darkness.

A cloud of Twilight.

And then Pit remembered Entei's words, that something horrible would happen if he raised this weapon against its own will. But it was far too late to back off now.

With a mad cry, he shot the arrow of darkness at the Hylian. Link raised his Mirror Shield… but the dark arrow pierced the shield, broke it into two halves… and buried itself in Link's hip.

Link gasped in pain, while at the same time, the Twilight was crawling up his body. He then felt the same he had felt before… back when he was facing Zant in the Palace of Twilight.

He fell down on all fours and let out a shrill howl, while he turned back into the black-furred, fearsome wolf he had become on his first journey.

"See?" Pit yelled. "That's your own fault! If you hadn't forced me to do this… now leave my palace! And take all of your rebel friends with you!"

He disconnected the two blades Palutena's Bow was composed of, twirled them around and ran at the transformed Link with a loud yell.

But Link remembered the last time he was forced to inhabit this body well and leapt out of the way. Being forced to fight back, he angrily snapped at Pit's feet. His teeth just grazed his skin, though, and Pit angrily slashed at his muzzle, creating a bloody gap in the wolf's face.

Then they leapt at each other and wrestled around on the floor. Link growled and tried to bite his friend, but Pit defended himself with the corrupted bow and pushed him back.

Link stumbled out on a balcony. Half of the balustrade was destroyed, and deep below them, they could hear the sounds of war.

Once again, Pit conjured up a Twilight Arrow and shot at his former friend. The wolf managed to evade it in time… but then one of his hind legs slipped over the edge of the demolished balcony, and he slowly slid downwards. With a pitiful whine, he tried to save himself with his claws, but it was to no avail. Taking heavy breaths, Pit watched how Link was plummeting down to his obvious doom.

But just when Link's wolf form plunged down from the floating palace, a winged, orange-scaled form dove down from the skies and caught him. It was Charizard. Together, they left the battlefield behind and flew away.

Pit crouched down in his floor and dropped his weapon. When he let his wings droop, he noticed that they had turned black… black as the night.

With Link defeated, it was just a matter of time before the remaining rebels fled or gave up. Pit didn't feel a thing while he slowly walked through the ravaged halls of the palace, his hand clutching the Twilight Bow.

He took the elevator and descended to the summit of Mt. Olympus. That was where he met the generals of his army. From the mountaintop, he could overlook the battlefield… and he saw countless, lifeless bodies scattered across the burnt land.

Ike, Marth and Roy were waiting for him, although Marth and Roy were seriously wounded.

Medusa was standing next to a fallen body. Pit looked down at the female figure clad in the red and orange Power Suit. The green visor was cracked, and Samus' eyes were closed.

"She managed to save this before she fell, my lord," Medusa said and gave something to him. It was the magical cloak of invisibility.

Pit looked around the surviving remains of his army. Only a few hundred were still alive. They all were looking back at the Palace in the Sky. It was a miracle that the once magnificent palace was still afloat. It looked like a ruin, nothing more.

Pit pointed at the palace with his bow, and a dark gleam appeared in his eyes. "This… is Link's work! And I will follow him to the end of the world, if that's what it takes to punish him!"

He spread his wings, and with an angry yell, the avenging angel flew up into the cloud-covered sky, to hunt the only person who had really been his friend.


	30. The Final Destination

Pit flew over the barren plains, farther and farther away from Mt. Olympus and the Palace in the Sky. He didn't know if anyone was following him or what part of Nintendopia was lying in front of him, but he didn't care. He didn't look back, not right or left and not down. He just stared ahead, into the distance, where Charizard and Link had vanished. In his fist, he was still clutching the Bow of Palutena, with a force that made his knuckles ache. The only things he heard were the beating of his heart and the flapping of his black-feathered wings.

He was seeking bloody revenge. He had been so close to his goals and dreams, and now everything was gone! Link had destroyed everything. Pit still had the image of the ruined palace in front of his eyes. Because of Link, he couldn't be the king of all Nintendopia. He was going to pay for this!

He was so blinded by his fury that he didn't see the small thicket of thorny plants that had suddenly appeared in front of him. Pit gasped and held his arms in front of his face, before crashing headfirst into the entangled vines. He could feel how the thorns were painfully grazing his skin and shredding up his feathers. With a dull, throbbing pain in his right shoulder, running right up into his wing, he stumbled through the vines until he hit the floor.

Angrily, he stumbled to his feet and fought his way through the thorns, hacking at the plants with his blades. When he got out of the thicket, he tried flapping his wings, but had to cry out in pain when his right wing refused to move, and all he achieved was to increase the pain.

"Come on, you stupid wings, work! Work, I say!" he shouted again and again. He tried to lift off from the ground one more time, but he then gave up. He let out a frustrated scream. He was angry at himself for being so careless.

"Well, looks like I have to continue on foot from here on…" he grumbled. But he wouldn't let something like a damaged wing stop him from getting his revenge.

He then noticed that the magical cloak which had still been wrapped around his shoulders was ripped to shreds by the thorns. Well, he wouldn't be able to use Medusa's present anymore, that much was certain.

He simply brushed of the torn remains of the magical cloth and threw it to the ground. He then kept on walking, never sparing another glance at the red rags.

He couldn't know that several months later, a wandering alchemist would come travelling across the plain, and that he would find the remains of the magical cloak. Using Medusa's magic, which was still embedded in the cloth, he would create another, powerful artifact that would also play an important role in history. But that's another story.

The longer Pit walked, the more tiring his march was getting. After the long, ardous battle of Mt. Olympus, the duel with Link and the long flight across the plains, fatigue finally caught up with him. Only his determination to track down Link was what drove him onwards.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder… why did Link hesitate when they had faced each other? Why didn't he just take his sword and finish the whole story? Why didn't he just take the Star Rod by force? And then Pit remembered the last look the wolf had given him before he fell down into the depths.

Hesitantly, Pit softened his grip on the bow. He looked down at the sacred weapon and remembered the Twilight Arrow he had fired from it. Was it the Twilight that had changed his wings from white to black?

Pit sighed and continued on his way. No matter what happened, he still couldn't forgive Link so easily.

It was about noon, when he reached a strange wall of dirt that looked like someone had piled it up. This wall was stretching through the whole landscape. Pit climbed up and looked down into a huge valley that looked like an enormous crater. From all sides, this round crater was surrounded by the same dirt wall.

But what Pit saw at the bottom of the valley was the strangest thing he had ever seen.

It looked like all of this valley was shrouded in a big cloud of gloomy darkness, not completely unlike the Twilight, but more purple instead of just black. In the middle of that cloud, he saw several, strange buildings that looked like they were made of rock, metal and glass. They resembled weird, geometrical shapes and were as dark as the whole valley. The weirdest thing about them was that they didn't have any doors, windows or other openings. A few, floating, translucent platforms were floating in the air, but they did not seem to have any purpose.

And then Pit saw the residents of this unusual town. At first he thought they were humans, but then he realized his mistake. They had the rough body shape of a human, but they were not of flesh and blood. They rather looked like all of their body textures were just a framework of purple lines that formed the outline of a human body. In the middle of their chests, he could see a floating object that resembled a heart. They all looked the same, only that there were male and female versions of these 'Wire Frames'.

Then he noticed that there were other creatures as well. Some of them looked similar to the Wire Frames, but their bodies were covered with what looked like colorful, metal coatings. They also had spherical lights instead of hands, feet and faces. Unlike the Wire Frames, there were at least four different versions of these creatures, which Pit decided to call 'Alloys'. Two of them looked similar to the Wire Frames, like a male and female human, but the other two versions were more stout and inhuman in appearance, with either a pair of metal horns on their head or a body that was as round as a ball.

The third kind of creatures down there looked like they were made of nothing but purple polygons. They came in all shapes and appearances, but not a single one of them had noticeable facial features. Many of these 'Polygons' looked more inhuman than the Wire Frames or even the Alloys.

Pit watched how they all were aimlessly walking through the streets, mostly ignoring each other. Sometimes, they would jump up on one of the moving platforms, to jump down on top of one of the strange buildings, but Pit could not make any sense of their actions.

Carefully and slowly, Pit slid down the crater wall and entered the city. He wondered what kind of creatures they were and why they acted so strangely. Were they even alive or were they just robots or just magical images that looked like living beings?

He decided to talk to one of the Wire Frames that came walking past him. "Excuse me?" he asked. "But what's the same of this town?"

The male Wire Frame turned his (its?) head around, and even though it had no eyes, he could somehow feel the creature's stare on his skin. Then it simply turned around and walked away.

Pit tried it again and asked one of the blue, female Alloys: "What are you doing here?"

The Alloy gave him the same strange stare as the Wire Frame, and then she turned around and left.

Suddenly, Pit heard a soft chuckle coming from behind him. "It's no use," someone said in an amused voice. "They won't answer."

Pit turned around… and saw nobody standing there. He looked around. "Hello?"

"Over here!" the voice spoke up, and then Pit saw a human-sized, grey object that was leaning against one of the buildings. It looked like a sandbag to him… but it was a sandbag with eyes.

The sandbag winked at him. "They can't talk, you know?"

Pit realized that a sandbag was talking to him. It took him some time before he found his voice and stuttered: "Who… who are you?"

"Call me Sandbag-kun!" The sandbag somehow managed to say this without having a mouth. "And who are you?"

"I'm Pit."

"Ah yes, I should have known… the hero of the Kid Icarus games, right?" Sandbag chuckled. "Say, were you called Pit before you came to Nintendopia as well?"

"What kind of question is that?" Pit asked.

"Just curious," Sandbag chuckled. "It doesn't happen every day that a human from the outer world has the same name as the character he's going to personify."

"What do you mean?" Pit shouted. "I've always been Pit, my whole life long."

"Well, you might have been Pit, but you haven't been PIT, if you know what I mean…"

Pit stared at the talking object. "No, I'm afraid I don't."

"Oh, that's all right," Sandbag smirked. "After spending some time here, it won't really matter to you anymore."

"I don't plan on staying here," Pit insisted. "By the way… what kind of place is this, anyway?"

"Well, it doesn't really have a name… but I like to call it the 'Final Destination'. And do you know why?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Pit grumbled. He thought the sandbag's rambling was really annoying.

Sandbag winked again. "Because this is the final destination of those who have come to Nintendopia from your home world… and never returned. You know, they all were once game players like you, and they all fulfilled their biggest dream by becoming the video game heroes they worshipped… such as you!"

Pit gasped. "What? You mean to tell me that all those… those things were once human beings?"

"Indeed," Sandbag grinned. "But they did not know that staying here for too long can be dangerous. You know what the Twilight is, don't you?"

"Yes," Pit said, confused at the sudden question. "It's composed of corrupted, human souls that are using the world of Nintendopia to their benefit…"

"That's right," Sandbag said. "But you know, there's also the other side of the coin… When you become too attached to the world of Nintendopia, to a point where you would give anything to become a part of it, you truly change into a video game character. But that's not the end of it, oh no… when these emotions you feel, this passion turns to an extreme… they might turn you to the dark side." He giggled. "Oh, how I love those Star Wars movies… um, anyways… when that happens, you are ready to give up anything, just to achieve your goals. But you don't really realize that you are already doomed. The more you linger in your obsession, the more it will warp your body and mind. You will turn into a creature not human… at first, you will still look like a human, but then your body will transformed into video game data, and look like a network of frames…"

Pit gasped and looked at the Wire Frames.

"You understand, don't you?" Sandbag asked. "But it's getting better: In the second stage, you will be covered with a metal coating that will begin to transform your body into something even less human."

Pit stared at the colorful forms of the Alloys. "And… then?" he muttered, although he already knew the answer.

Sandbag grinned. "Then you fall apart and are turned into polygons… and you won't remember anything from your former life. In the end, you will be nothing more than a mindless beast… and if you are lucky, you might transform into one of the many monsters or wild, mindless creatures that are living in Nintendopia. See that poor thing over there?" And the sandbag nodded over to a Polygon that still walked on two legs, but had a distinct, reptilian shape, complete with a tail made of polygons. "It will soon turn into a savage Lizalfos, one of the barbarian races of Hyrule, and attack humans and animals alike. But it's still better than to vegetate in here, for all eternity, isn't it?"

"That's inhuman…" Pit whispered.

"Well, they aren't humans anymore, aren't they?" He giggled.

Pit was getting angry. "Oh yeah? Well, I'm not planning on becoming like them. I will use the Star Rod and my wishes to get out of here, and then…"

"Oh, you silly, little boy!" Sandbag laughed. "Do you honestly think it's going to be that easy? Do you think you can still use the abilities of the character you have turned into when you don't remember anything? There is a reason why you keep forgetting stuff like this, you know? The more you use your powers, the more your soul becomes entangled with Nintendopia, and when all of your memories of the outer world are gone… you will have no other choice but to stay here, forever!"

"But… but Palutena gave this power to me…" Pit murmured. He had a bad feeling about all of this.

"Sure, but do you think she's just going to watch how you selfishly grant your own wishes? Just look at what your wishing caused: The Palace in the Sky is destroyed and the Nintendopians fought against each other in a war."

"But… but that's not my fault…" Pit protested.

"Well, sucks to be you!" Sandbag chuckled. "You should have acted like a proper champion of the Queen does, but the only thing you had in mind was to replace her. I'm honestly not surprised at this outcome."

Pit wanted to say something else, but then they were interrupted by the arrival of a yellow, child-sized Alloy that was carrying what looked like a baseball bat.

"Ah, it's this time again, isn't it?" Sandbag sighed. "Oh well, Let's get this over with…"

And before Pit could do anything, the yellow Alloy stood next to Sandbag, swung around the bat and hit Sandbag with all his might. The grey, talking object was flying through the air, over the buildings and the heads of the other Alloys, Wire Frames and Polygons. In the end, he hit a smooth, shining wall and slid down to the floor.

Pit quickly ran after him, until he reached the spot where Sandbag was lying, sideways.

"Whooo… now wasn't that fun?" Sandbag giggled. "Ah, I love it when they do that…"

"Wh-what was that all about?" Pit stuttered. "Why did he do that?"

"I need to keep them occupied," Sandbag explained. "All those negative emotions hidden within them… if I'm not careful, they always fight each other, and that would get boring pretty quick. So I'm trying to come up with games they can play. My favorite game is the 'Home-Run-Contest', where they grab the nearest Homerun Bat and hit me as hard as they can."

Pit decided not to ask from where they got the bats.

"Tell me, Sandbag: If I had become king yesterday… would I have to stay here as well?"

"Well, not necessarily right away… but pretty soon, that's true."

"Then Link saved me…" Pit whispered.

"Maybe, I really don't know," Sandbag replied and probably would have shrugged, if he had shoulders.

"And if he managed to take the Star Rod away from me?"

"I guess you would have ended up here as well," Sandbag chuckled. "You see, you still need the Star Rod to find your way home. But, to be honest, I don't believe that you succeed."

"And… what must I do?"

Sandbag grinned. "You must find a wish that brings you back to your world."

"And… how many wishes do I have left?"

"Not too many. I suppose only three or four. You won't get far with them, that's for sure. You have to cross Icicle Mountain and you will need at least one to do that. As for the rest, who knows? Maybe you're lucky enough to find some help when you reach the seaside… but I doubt it. I guess I can let you go, though… for today!"

"Thanks, Sandbag," Pit said, and there was a big amount of relief in his voice.

Sandbag grinned again. "Farewell, young Pit! I hope for your sake that we don't see each other again."

And suddenly, one of the floating platforms appeared under the sandbag and carried him away, through the air and behind one of the buildings, out of Pit's view.


	31. The PictoChat

The tale of Medusa's end is a short one. At the same time when Pit left the Final Destination, Medusa and her loyal Darknut guardians reached the thorny thicket where the young angel had to crash-land.

She saw the white feathers that were entangled within the thorns. She was able to guess what exactly had happened. She knew how close this place was to the Final Destination. No matter if Pit managed to leave it or not, he had become useless to her. Either way, the game was over for her.

She ordered her Darknuts to stop, but for some reason, they did not obey. She became furious, jumped out of her sedan chair and blocked their way with spread arms. "Stop!" she screamed. "I command you to stop!"

But the armored giants did not listen to her. They kept on walking as if she wasn't there. Medusa let out one strangled yelp when she disappeared beneath the stomping boots of the metal giants. Only when she drew her last breath, did they finally stop.

Later, the three swordsmen Marth, Ike and Roy arrived with the rest of Pit's army to see what had happened. They were clueless to how this could have happened, though. They knew the Darknuts moved only through Medusa's will, but neither of them believed that she would order them to stomp her to death. They thought about it, but came to no conclusion. In the end, they decided that the battle was obviously over. They told the rest of the army so and advised them to go home.

"And what about us?" asked Marth. "We swore an oath to stay at Sir Pit's side."

Ike scratched his head. "Well, I guess we have to find him…"

"But… but where should we start searching?" Roy asked.

In the end, they decided to part ways. Each one of them wanted to go into another direction and search for Pit on his own. They wished each other best of luck and parted ways. Many adventures awaited them on their pointless quests, but those are other stories.

The giant, unmoving Darknuts, however, stayed at this place for many years to come, next to the thorny thicket, close to the Final Destination. Rain and snow fell down on them, and over the time, they began to rust and fall apart. In the end, they began to slowly sink into the ground. Travellers began to avoid that place, and it was rumored that the place became cursed.

* * *

As Sandbag had told him, Pit had crossed Icicle Mountain. His wings were still torn by the thorns, and after he had begun his climb up the steep mountain cliffs, the icy winds that blew around the peak ruffled them up even more. A couple of times, he believed he wouldn't make it and collapsed in the cold. One time, he even believed he had begun to hallucinate, as he saw two eskimos in colorful parkas chasing a strange bird that held an eggplant in its talons…

Somehow, he managed not only to survive, but also to descend the mountain on the other side. When he finally made it, he didn't look much like a messenger of the heavens, even less like a king. His toga was torn up, his wings were missing most of their feathers, his eyes were red and his skin was smeared with dirt and sweat.

But he kept on walking.

While he was walking, he stared at the strange scenery in front of him. Everything was flat and white, as if he was walking on a big sheet of paper. Here and there, he could see a couple of trees and shrubs… but they looked as if someone had drawn them with a pencil. A starlight sky was up above him, and colorful stars were falling from the sky.

Then, he came past a single monitor that was floating in the air. It showed nothing but a black image with a few, yellow words on it:

'Now entering: Pit'

He blinked and shook his head. Apparently, that monitor was able to recognize him somehow. He wondered if there was something else, but the image on the monitor did not change. There also were no buttons or switches, so he just left it alone and continued on his way.

He then reached a house that was standing in the middle of the strange trees. Like them, it also looked like someone had drawn it with a pencil… but this time, he was able to see it. However, while it resembled a pencil, it was actually a black, floating stylus. It was floating in the air, above the house, and was almost constantly drawing. Sometimes, it would draw an additional window, and then a chimney on the roof. Sometimes, it would even erase a wall and draw a new one, making the house bigger than before. But as quick as the objects were drawn, they disappeared again. Sometimes, the stylus would also draw something else, such as an additional tree, a seesaw or a little sheep with stick-legs that aimlessly walked around in front of the house, before it disappeared.

While he was approaching the house and the floating stylus, he heard a female, melodic voice coming from inside. It was singing the most beautiful song he had heard in his life, even though he could understand no words. In spite of the surrealness of the area, this welcoming song was drawing him closer. He saw a warm light from within the house. When he was standing in front of the main door, he hesitated and looked up to the stylus. It continued to draw and erase as if he wasn't even there. Finally, he took a deep breath and knocked.

"Please come in," the voice said.

He opened the door and found himself in a cozy room. A big lamp hanging from the ceiling illuminated the whole room. In the middle, there was a round table with several chairs standing around. On several plates and bowls, Pit saw all kinds of food. Sitting at the table was a tall, beautiful woman in a pale, blue dress. She was holding a star-tipped wand and had a small, silver crown on her head. She smiled at him. An aura of peacefulness and serinity seemed to surround her, and her eyes looked very motherly.

"Welcome to the PictoChat, my dear boy," she said. "Please, have a seat and eat something. You must be starved."

"Excuse me," Pit murmured. "Are you waiting for a guest? Because I just came here by chance."

"Really?" the woman smiled. "I don't mind. You can sit down either way, it's been so long since I had a guest. Please, eat as much as you want, while I'm going to tell you a little story."

So Pit sat down and took an apple from a bowl. Before he took a bite, however, he looked at her and asked: "And you? Aren't you hungry?"

She laughed. "Well, if you insist, I will eat something as well." She stood up and walked over to a small cupboard, from which she took another bowl. But this one was full of colorful stars, the same ones Pit had seen falling from the sky outside. She put the bowl on the table, sat down again and took a big bite. "Hmmm," she said. "Delicious!"

Pit was so perplexed that he almost forgot to eat. He never knew that stars were edible.

"Excuse me," she giggled. "But Star Bits are the only thing I eat. It's also the only thing my children, the Luma, eat."

"Aren't your children at home?" Pit asked.

She smiled at him sadly. "No," she sighed. "But that's a long story. However, I have another story to tell you first. Don't you want to hear it?"

Pit nodded and continued to eat.

"A long time ago," she began. "Our dear queen fell ill. But only a human child was able to help her, by finding out her one true name. But humans didn't come to Nintendopia anymore, and no one knew why. And if she had died, it would have been the end of all of Nintendopia. But then, one day, a little boy came to her. He found out her name, Palutena, and therefore, he cured her of her sickness. In return, she awarded the little boy with precious gifts. One of the gifts was the Star Rod, which was able to make all of his wishes come true. Our little boy then began a long journey and made one wish after the other, all of which came true. And he did not only have good wishes, but also bad ones, because Palutena does not make any difference between both. Even when her palace on Mt. Olympus was destroyed, she did nothing to prevent it. However, with every wish the little boy had, he lost more and more of his memories of the world he had come from. But he didn't mind, since he didn't really want to go back there. So he kept on wishing, until he used up nearly all of his wishes. And without memories, no one can wish for anything. Now he was in danger, as he had almonst no wish left, and he still didn't know what he really wanted. And that meant that he would never find his way back into his own world. But then he managed to reach the PictoChat, a place where he would stay until he remembered, what he really wanted.

At that point, she stopped talking, as she saw that Pit had stopped eating. He was holding a slice of cake and stared at her, his mouth open.

She smiled. "If you don't like strawberry cake, try the apple pie."

"What? Oh no, it's really good!"

"Well, everything's fine then," she smiled. "By the way, I forgot to tell you the name of the little boy from the story. Many people just called him 'The Savior' or 'Palutena's Champion'. But his true name was Pit."

Pit quickly swallowed the rest of the cake slice, then he coughed and said: "Th-that's my name! I'm Pit!"

She smiled. "See?" She didn't seem to be surprised at all.

"By the way, I haven't told you my name yet. I am Princess Rosalina… the Star Mother."

"Star… Mother?" Pit wondered.

"Yes," she nodded. "Every star begins its life as a Luma… and I am the mother of all Lumas. However, most of my children are grown now, and I've been alone for some time… that's why I'm so happy you've come!" She laughed and took a napkin, wiping some cake bits from his mouth. "Here, let me clean your face."

Pit blushed. He was feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I'm not a kid anymore…" he protested.

"But why not?" she smiled. "That's one of the most wonderful things in life, isn't it?"

Pit did not know how to react. He just knew that it somehow felt… good to have someone who took care of him.

After some time, Rosalina said: "Well, I guess we should go to the other room. Looks like he has a surprise for us."

"Who?" Pit asked.

"The Stylus. He has a mind of his own, you know? And he sometimes likes to surprise me with changes he made to the house."

Pit then noticed that the room had become a bit bigger. And that door over there… that hadn't been there before, had it?

"Well, let's go!" Rosalina sighed as she stood up. "He can be stubborn. It's best to just do what he wants. And most of the time, he really cares."

Pit followed her through the new door the Stylus had apparently drawn without him noticing it. Behind it, they found another room… but this room was full of toys and furniture… but the furniture was much bigger than before. The chairs were so big that Pit nearly couldn't climb up to sit on it.

"Why, would you look at that?" Rosalina smirked. "He really has outdone himself this time. He created a room that looks like how it would look to a small child."

"But why did he do it?" Pit wondered.

"Is that so hard to figure out?" she asked. "He likes you. As do I. We both are happy to have you as a guest."

"Then… you don't get visitors pretty often?"

"Never," she sighed sadly. "From the day on that my last Luma child left this house, the Stylus and I have been by ourselves."

Pit looked around. "You know, this room is pretty big. You wouldn't think there was so much place inside the house."

"Every house the Stylus draws is bigger on the inside," Rosalina smiled.

Pit was beginning to feel a bit tired. But he didn't want to go to sleep yet, so he asked her: "If you are the mother of the stars… who was your mother?"

"My mother was the Princess Rosalina before me," she explained gently.

"But… does that mean you had the same name?"

"No," she giggled, as if he had said something silly. "She was Princess Rosalina, and after her time had come, I became the new Princess Rosalina."

Pit yawned. "I… don't think I understand…"

"It's easy. See, every time a Rosalina realized that her time has come, she appoints one of her Luma children to become the new Rosalina. Then her body turns into light and she searches her place among the stars. Then the little Luma she chose becomes the new Rosalina. Easy as that."

Pit wasn't sure if he heard the last thing she said. He had began to doze off, and his head slowly sank down to the table. When he began to softly snore, Rosalina picked him up and gently put him to bed. Again, she sang a beautiful song that had no clear words, but was a sweet lullaby nevertheless, and he peacefully sank into a silent slumber…

* * *

Pit was Princess Rosalina's guest for many weeks to come. Summer came, and after summer, fall. Pit nearly forgot about his worries and that he had nearly been crowned Nintendopia's king a couple of months ago. He simply enjoyed the carefreeness of a small child, and let himself be spoiled by Rosalina.

The Stylus also did his part of bringing amusement and joy to Pit. He drew toys, playrooms, carousels, and many other things. And on certain, pleasant evenings, he and Rosalina sat on the balcony and watched the stars. She told him of her children, the Lumas, who had now become stars and planets themselves, while all around them, the Star Bits were falling down to Earth. Pit also told her many stories. He told her about Entei, Samus, Medusa and his friend Link, who was now injured because of him… or maybe even dead.

"I messed up with everything," he sighed. "I think I misunderstood everything Palutena told me. I misused all of her presents and thereby brought so much harm over Nintendopia."

"I don't think so," she said softly. "You just followed your wishes. And not every path that is made of wishes leads you straight ahead. You took many detours, but it was YOUR way. You are one of those that can go back only after having found the Fountain of Dreams, the most secret of all places."

Pit was quiet for a moment, then he asked: "Can you tell me how to get there?"

"The Fountain of Dreams is situated next to Nintendopia's borders."

"But Nintendopia has no borders!"

"Yes, it has, but the borders are not at the outside, but on the inside. The place from where Palutena gets all her powers, but where she can't go herself."

"Isn't it too late for me to get there?" Pit murmured, not feeling very confident.

"There is only one wish you can use to get there: Your last one."

Pit was a bit scared. "Every wish I made took something from me… made me forget something. Will it happen again when I make my last wish?"

She nodded.

"But I don't really notice any difference. Do I have to forget everything? Lose everything?"

"Nothing is lost," she whispered while softly stroking his hair. "It just transforms into something different."

"Maybe I shouldn't stay here…" he murmured. "Maybe I should hurry."

"Most things need their time," she explained. "You will know when your last wish comes to the surface. Sleep now! Everything will be fine."

Neither of them knew that by now, Pit's newest wish had already began to manifest deep within his heart. He just didn't realize it.

He wanted to find his own place in the world. A place where he could someone to love, and someone who would love him back.

Pit began to feel sleepy again, but he still had a question: "Rosalina… what is it that I must forget to find my last wish?"

"Your father and mother," she whispered.

Pit thought about it. "Father and mother?" But those two words didn't mean anything to him anymore. He didn't know what they meant.

A single tear came out of Rosalina's eye. "You will have to leave me pretty soon. Your final wish will guide you. Don't lose sight of it…"

She put him to bed. "Don't worry anymore. Also, don't worry about me either. Not now and not tomorrow morning. Everything is right as it is. Good night, dear little Pit!"

"Good night, Princess Rosalina…" he murmured before he fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, when he looked out of the window, he saw that everything was still white and flat as paper. But it wasn't the same ground as before. The whole floor of the PictoChat was covered with a thin layer of snow, as were the pencil-drawn trees outside. It had become winter over night.

Pit went to say Rosalina goodbye, but he couldn't find her anywhere. He just saw a little, yellow creature that was shaped like a puffy, little star. It was lying in a little crib and snoozed peacefully.

He somehow knew that this was Rosalina's daughter.

He walked outside. For once, nothing about the house or the PictoChat was changing at all. The Stylus was hovering next to the house, motionless. Pit looked up into the starlight sky, where he could see a new, bright star that was hovering directly over the house.

He waved to the star, and a tear was also running down his cheek. "Goodbye," he whispered. "And thank you for everything."

And he left the PictoChat behind, knowing that a new Rosalina would soon be there.

It was very cold.


	32. The Gallery of Memories

The big manor stood in the middle of the forest. In many stories, such a manor would look spooky and be the setting for ghost stories… but this house was actually looking quite pleasant, with wide, open windows and a big, tidy garden. Its main door was also wide open, as if it wanted to welcome all visitors.

In front of the house, on a lawn chair, a young, blonde girl in a white dress was sitting, smiling to herself as she drew something on a white sheet of paper, using colorful crayons and pencils. For a while, she had just heard the sounds of the forest animals, but now, the footsteps of a visitor were approaching.

When the visitor arrived – and of course it was Pit – he said to her: "Hello. Could you help me? I think I got myself lost in the woods…"

She put down the pencil and smiled at him. "You're not lost," she said. "But please, why don't you come in? I just wanted to take my lunch break."

She put the pencils and her drawing block away and led Pit inside. The manor was empty, but brightly illuminated by the sunrays shining in through the windows. The white curtains were billowing in a pleasant wind. As Pit looked around, he saw numerous, drawn pictures hanging on the walls.

The girl showed Pit the way to the kitchen, where a bubbling pot of soup was standing on the stove. She took the pot from the plate and put it on the table. After getting another bowl and spoon from the cupboard, they sat down together to eat. Pit didn't say a thing, as his journey had left him hungry. For a while, they just ate.

After they were finished, the girl took some ice cream out of the fridge and gave Pit a popsicle. Pit gave it an experimental lick… it tasted sweet, yet salty.

"Sea salt ice cream," the girl explained. "My favorite. Say, what's your name?"

"I'm Pit."

"Ah, so you still know your name. That's good."

"Good?"

"Yes, most of those that come here have already forgotten everything."

Pit scratched his head. "And who are you?"

"I'm Namine," she introduced herself. "I'm the caretaker of this manor, which is actually a gallery."

"A gallery?"

"Yes. It's called the Gallery of Memories."

"I never heard of it before, I'm afraid," Pit admitted as he gave the popsicle another lick. It tasted really good.

Namine giggled. "No, of course you didn't. But actually, it was made just for people like you. For people who can't find the way to the Fountain of Dreams."

"But what do you mean when you say memories?" Pit asked her.

"Nothing ever gets lost in this world," Namine explained. "Have you ever fallen asleep and couldn't remember what it was that you dreamed of?"

Pit nodded. "Yes, quite often."

She smiled. "See? And that's where I come in. I draw pictures of every memory that every person who comes to Nintendopia has. Stored within this gallery, they never get lost. And if they truly need a special, valuable, I might be able to help them further."

"How can you do that?" Pit wondered. "How can you draw the things that people forget or remember?"

"Some would call me a witch," Namine explained. "But I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that. See, I'm not really a native to Nintendopia… but I'm not from your world either. I came here because I had no place in my home world… I thought I was going to disappear into nothingness. But then, the queen appeared to me and offered to take me here, where I could use my abilities to help others. And that's why I'm here."

"So… do you think… that my memories are here as well? Everyone tells me that I'm forgetting something… even though I can't really tell."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Namine said as she finished her ice cream and stood up from her chair. "You wanna take a look at my pictures?" And she offered him her hand.

Pit smiled as he took her hand and stood up as well. "Yes, I'd like that very much."

And Namine led him through the manor. In nearly every room, her pictures were hanging. Some were drawn just using a grey pencil, but most of them were bright and colorful. A couple of pictures showed quite mundane things, such as women sitting on a balcony and fishes swimming through a pond. But there were also very strange ones, such as faces that were made of letters, animals wearing human clothing and people who had objects grown to their bodies. He saw weird creatures, funny animals and horrible monsters. Pit really wasn't able to tell what most of these were supposed to represent. And not one of them looked familiar to him.

"So, found something you recognized?" Namine asked. After the little tour was over, they were sitting back outside in front of the manor. Pit shook his head.

"No," he said. "Not a single one."

She sighed. "That's too bad," she said. "You know, just one memory would be enough to help you. To help you find the way to the Fountain of Dreams. And maybe there you can find out what your true, final wish is. However… using it, you will forget the last thing you have: You will have to forget yourself. And that means you have to be patient."

"What must I do?" Pit asked. By now, he was ready to do almost everything.

"Work here in the gallery," Namine said. "Help me uncover the pencils that are stored in the attic… using them, I can draw the memories of the people. The pencils themselves are made of the memories. And using them, I can put them on paper. However, if you want to find your own memories, you have to go up there yourself and search for them. I must warn you that it is very dark up there. Maybe you got some sort of light on your journey? Some sort of magical stone that can light your way?"

"Yes," Pit nodded. "But I used the spell stone for something else."

Namine sighed. "Oh well. Then I guess you will have to do it on your own."

And so Pit began working for Namine. Every day, he climbed up into the attic to find the pencils she needed to draw her pictures. And while everything else in the manor was bright and cheery, the attic was darker than the night. Pit wasn't able to see a thing. But that didn't stop him from bringing Namine what she needed, hoping that one of these pencils would contain his own memories. He worked without any sort of complain, since he knew that this was his last chance.

He didn't know for how many days he was doing this. It seemed like an eternity to him. But then, one evening it happened that he watched Namine drawing with one of the pencils he brought her.

The picture was bright and cheerful. It was showing three different people standing next to each other. The one in the middle was small and looked like a boy… a boy he had never seen before. The other two were adults, a man and a woman. They were holding the young boy's hands, and he seemed to be happy to be with them. And they were happy to have him. The longer Pit looked at this picture, the more pity he felt for himself. He wanted to be loved like this little boy, and he couldn't imagine what it was that he was missing. His heart was aching, and in this torrent of emotions, he lost the last memory he still had: He forgot his own name.

Namine looked up and could tell that his search was over. She didn't say a thing, and neither did the now nameless boy. Silently, they went to bed. The next morning, the nameless boy walked over to Namine and said: "I won't help you with your work anymore."

"So you found what you've been looking for?" she asked.

He nodded. Namine smiled and gave him the picture. "You can keep it. It will guide your way. Never lose it. And make sure it won't be destroyed, since it's the only one of its kind. It will be all over for you if it is lost."

They went outside. For a while, they stood in front of the house, just looking at each other. Then the nameless boy said: " Thanks for everything, Namine."

She smiled. "It was my pleasure. Take care of yourself out there… and good luck."

He nodded, turned around and walked away from the mansion. Namine waved after him.

* * *

For many hours, he kept on walking through the forest. Some time later, the forest ended, and he was standing on a wide, empty plain, with no tree, hill or building anywhere in sight. But the nameless boy kept on walking, convinced that the memory in his pocket would lead him to his goal. It was giving him strength.

But suddenly, he heard loud noises. Shrill, screeching voices that sounded very familiar to him. And when he looked up, he could see them circling above his head.

It was the swarm of the jellyfish-like, floating aliens, the Metroid.

'For heaven's sake… I hope they don't see me,' he thought. 'If they see me and attack, they might destroy the picture…'

But they did see him. Screeching even louder, they came swooping down at him, circling him, so that he had no way to escape, since his wings still didn't obey him.

"WE HAVE FOUND YOU!" he heard the voices of the Metroid in his head. "NOW YOU WILL DO WHAT WE TELL YOU, OR ELSE YOU WILL BECOME OUR PREY."

"Please, just let me go," the nameless boy whispered. "I can't help you with anything… just leave me, okay?"

"WE CANNOT DO THAT," the Metroid replied. "WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU. IN AN EARLIER LIFE, WE WERE THE MR. SATURN. WE WEREN'T SATISFIED WITH OUR FORMS. WE ASKED YOU FOR THE STRENGTH TO DEFEAT ALL FOES EASILY. YOU GRANTED THAT WISH. BUT WE DID NOT REALIZE THAT YOU ACTUALLY BETRAYED US. NOW WE ARE THE DOMINANT PREDATOR IN THIS WORLD… BUT ACTUALLY, WE HAVE NO REASON TO EXIST. BACK WHEN WE WERE THE MR. SATURN, WE WERE GREAT INVENTORS. NOW THAT ABILITY IS LOST AND ALL WE CAN DO IS DRAIN LIVING CREATURES OF THEIR LIFE FORCE. IN THE END, THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT FOR US TO DRAIN."

"I just wanted to help," the nameless boy whispered. "I couldn't know what would happen."

"BUT NOW YOU KNOW. WE WANT YOU TO GIVE OUR EXISTANCE A MEANING. BECOME OUR LEADER, OUR LEADER ON OUR CONQUEST OF THIS WORLD."

"I can't do that. I have no power left in Nintendopia."

"IN THAT CASE; YOU WILL TURN US BACK INTO THE MR. SATURN. IN THAT FORM, WE HAD AT LEAST A PURPOSE."

"I can't. Don't you understand? I can't help you with anything."

"IF THAT IS TRUE, THEN YOU WILL HAVE AT LEAST ONE FINAL USE TO US: YOU WILL BE PREY WE CAN FEED ON."

And together as one, the whole swarm came down on him. Every Metroid tried clinging to his head at once, and he barely managed to defend himself from this attack. His clothes and pockets were torn by their sharp fangs and he cried in pain when in the end, one of the attackers managed to bury its fangs into his flesh.

But just when he thought that everything was over, a loud roar made the Metroid scatter. An arrow, surrounded by an aura of ice, came flying through the air and froze a couple of Metroids solid. They fell down to the ground, where they shattered into thousand pieces. The rest of the swarm gave up and flew away.

The nameless boy looked down at the remains of his ripped toga and the pieces of paper that had been his memory picture. It was destroyed. He couldn't recognize the colorful people on it anymore. A tear came flowing out of his eyes. Now he had truly lost everything.

When he looked up, he saw two individuals standing close to him.

It was Link and Charizard.


	33. The Fountain of Dreams

The nameless boy hesitated before getting up from the ground and slowly approaching Link. Standing in front of him, Link watched him calmly. The nameless boy saw a long scar on his face and remembered that this was where he had hit his wolf muzzle during the battle of Mount Olympus. He had no idea when and how Link had managed to turn back into his Hylian self, but he didn't ask.

For a long time, they just stood there, in front of each other, and neither said a word. Finally, the nameless boy looked down at the light rings around his arms. The rings that the Star Rod had always turned into whenever he didn't make use of its powers. They were shining bright, as usual. The only time they ever went dark was in the attic of Namine's manor, where it was so dark that even the Star Rod's light wasn't enough.

The boy touched the golden rings, and then he was holding the Star Rod once again. Slowly, he knelt down and put the rod to the ground. For a moment, he looked at the star tip of the magical artifact… then he let go of it.

At the same time, the golden glow of the Star Rod became so bright and radiant that they had to shield their eyes. And when they opened them again, they found themselves standing on a circular platform that was floating through space, surrounded by hundreds of bright stars and comets. In front of them, a magnificant fountain was standing, with wide arches of sparkling, colorful waters that were flowing over the edge of the fountain's pool and around their feet, down the platform and into the great nothingness that surrounded them. In the middle of the fountain, there was a small marble dome, with the Star Rod in its middle.

The rainbow-like waters were reflecting the light of the stars and the Star Rod, and at the same time, gave of a colorful mist that was hanging all over the place. From within the mist, they saw images coming forth, images that disappeared whenever they wanted to take a closer look, that were accompanied by undefinable sounds that seemed like murmurs and whispers.

"The Fountain of Dreams…" Charizard growled softly. "The origin of all Nintendopian dreams…"

"You are right, fire dragon," a voice spoke up. It was loud and powerful and seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. "However, Nintendopia itself is the ultimate dream that was created by the minds of the humans from the outside world."

Something came floating down from above, a strange-looking creature… but then again, not that strange after everything Link and Pit had seen on their respective journeys.

It was a big, white, glove, that moved like a human hand would… however, it moved on its own, as if an invisible giant had stuck its hand inside. From where they were standing, it floated to the right of the fountain.

"I am Master Hand," said the creature, even though it had no mouth to talk with. "I welcome you, brave heroes. "Will you tell me your names?"

"I am Link," said Link.

"I am… Charizard…" the fire Pokémon grumbled.

They looked at the pale boy standing next to them. He didn't say anything.

Link reached for his hand and said: "He is called Pit."

"Why isn't he speaking for himself?" Master Hand asked calmly.

"He can't," Link explained. "He forgot everything."

The hand seemed to scratch an invisible chin. "That is unfortunate…" he said. "With no memory, he can't make use of the fountain."

"Make use of it?" Charizard wondered. "What for?"

"Why, to return back to his own world, of course," Master Hand said.

"I remembered everything," Link said. "Everything he told me of his world. I can speak for him."

"Is that so?" a higher voice asked with a giggle. Another shadow was cast upon their heads as a second hand came floating down on their left side. It was like Master Hand, only that it was a left glove instead of a right glove.

"Crazy Hand…" Master Hand pointed at his mirror image. "You are late."

Crazy Hand's fingers twitched. "I was waiting for the best opportunity to show myself. This young Hylian thinks he can speak for the fallen angel… well, then I ask: Why does he think he has the right to do such a thing?"

"Because he is my friend," Link said with a frown.

"True friendship is rare these days," Master Hand said.

"Maybe so," Crazy Hand seemed to ponder. "But does that count? I see you are scarred, young warrior," he suddenly changed subject, gesturing at the scar in Link's face. "How did that happen, I wonder?" He snickered as if he was laughing at a private joke.

Link looked at his friend's face. "Both of us were right… and we also both made mistakes. But now, Pit has put down the Star Rod willingly."

"You should know, brother, that this act proves that there's yet something within this boy that deserves to be saved if he can make such a decision," Master Hand said. Crazy Hand twitched in irritation, but didn't protest.

Master Hand opened his palm in an inviting gesture. "This is where the Star Rod was created in the first place… each of you has carried it at one point, even you, proud fire dragon! The Star Rod itself is the door Pit has been searching for all this time… he has carried it with him all this time. However, he can't take anything back home that is of Nintendopian origin That is the reason why he had to lose all of Palutena's gifts before coming here."

"Isn't she here?" Link asked.

"The Star Rod may be her sign of power, but it is nothing but a fragment of the imagination of humans… as we all are. She cannot escape the dream that we are all a part of."

"Well then, young human," Crazy Hand asked. His voice sounded somewhat sarcastic. "Are you ready?"

Link looked at his friend and he nodded. "Yes," the Hylian said. "He is ready."

Pit slowly stepped forth, and in the moment he touched the edge of the marble fountain basin, everything that remained of Palutena's gifts vanished from his body. The torn toga, the tattered wings… and in the end, he was once again the small boy that had played the 'Neverending Game' on his Wii console.

But at the same time, when he lost all of the fantastic gifts, he also regained something… all of his memories, everything that he had lost, everything that had connected him to his home world. He dove into the colorful water, bathed in it, and was refreshed by its coolness.

"Link," he shouted and a broad smile appeared on his face. "Link, you can't believe it… all these images… these sounds… are the dreams of the Nintendopians. I can see everything… and everything that is part of this world. You have to see for yourself, come on in…"

Link laughed. "No, not this time. We're only your companions."

Pit jumped out of the fountain cheerfully. "I remember everything. I know my name and all!"

Link nodded. "Yes, this is what you looked like when I saw you in the Gameboy Screen Door."

"I hate to interrupt this touching scene," Crazy Hand spoke up. "But it's time for Pit to return to his own world."

"Already?" Pit frowned.

"I'm afraid so," Master Hand said. "You have to take the path back or you will never be able to find it again."

"Well, okay," Pit sighed. "But where is it? Where do I have to go?"

He looked around, but there was nothing that resembled a path or a doorway or anything similar.

"Pit," Master Hand spoke up. "You have started many stories since you came here to Nintendopia… many stories that might one day be told within their own games. Have you helped those stories to come to a conclusion?"

Pit thought back to the quest he had thought up for Fox. He remembered the Metroids he had unleashed on this world and also Entei and his two companions. And he knew that Yoshi had found his future mate thanks to his words.

"No… no, I haven't," he admitted.

Master Hand sighed and his brother wagged his index finger. "Too bad, really! In that case, you have to go back and finish all these stories. No way around it, I'm afraid."

"All of them?" Pit gasped. "I'll never be able to finish them all! Does that mean it was all for nothing? I can never return?"

"Well," Master Hand pondered. "There is one possibility…"

"A possibility?" Pit wondered.

"Yes. If there's someone who would be willing to finish all these stories for you, you still may go home."

"But that's nothing I could ever ask of anyone," Pit protested. "There's no one willing to do such a thing in the first place!"

"Yes, there is," Link said, stepping next to his friend. "I'll do it!"

Pit looked at him in surprise, then he hugged the tall Hylian's waist and shouted: "Thank you! Thank you, Link! I will never forget this!"

Link smiled. "Good, then you won't forget Nintendopia either."

"But…" Pit looked up at him. "How will you ever be able to finish all of this?"

"With my help, of course," Charizard smirked. "You think I'd ever leave this boy alone? It's not like he's able to accomplish much without my wis guidance."

"Oh sure, you're the wisest Pokémon there ever was," Link said mockingly. They all laughed.

"Well, Pit," Master Hand said. "I think it's time to go…" And he gestured towards the Fountain of Dreams, where a door made of white light had appeared. "Are you ready?"

Pit nodded. "Yes. Yes, I am." He smiled at his friends, took a step towards the door, then he hesitated. He looked up at Master Hand.

"Will I… will I ever be able to come back?"

"It's possible," Master Hand replied. "After all, you are the star of the Kid Icarus games, aren't you?"

Pit frowned. "But… there hasn't been a new Kid Icarus games in years…"

"Don't give your hopes up just yet, kid," Crazy Hand snickered. "I heard there's this new game Nintendo is working on… it's not neverending, but I think the main protagonist is this young boy with a bow and angel wings…"

"Well, in that case…" Pit smiled. He looked back at his friends. Link raised his hand in greeting and Charizard roared one last time. Then they disappeared from his sight.

Pit turned around, took a deep breath… and stepped through the door.

When the two hands were the only ones left, Crazy Hand turned to his brother.

"Well, that's that," he said. "Now tell me one thing, brother… why did you allow this boy to find the game?"

"Because he was the one," Master Hand explained. "Do you think there are many boys called Pit?"

"Well, okay, but how did you recognize him?"

If he had a mouth, Master Hand would have smiled. "Because he came to my store. Anyone else wouldn't have chosen this game either." And out of nowhere, he produced the game case that Pit had purchased from a man called 'Masuto Hando'…

It was the Neverending Game.

"It's neverending, brother," Master Hand said. "And while this story is over, Pit's adventures have only begun. I'm pretty sure that one day, he will find his way back to Nintendopia… or maybe even help someone else find the way here."

"Yeah, sure…" Crazy Hand muttered. He then snickered. "But… that's a different story!"

* * *

The End


End file.
